Ben Carson Denies Trying to Mislead Public About $31,000 Dining Set

Secretary addresses shifting statements on his role at hearing
He says he learned about the $31,000 cost from news reports

Ben Carson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), speaks during a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in Washington, on March 20. — Ben Carson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), speaks during a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in Washington, on March 20.
Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg

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By Joe Light

March 20, 2018 at 4:52 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said he wasn’t trying to mislead the public when an agency spokesman initially denied that he and his family were involved in a controversial decision to buy a $31,000 dining room set for his office.

Carson addressed the furor Tuesday during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for HUD. Some lawmakers on the panel seemed more interested in the shifting characterizations of the secretary’s role in the ultimately scrapped furniture purchase than in Trump’s plan to cut agency spending 14 percent to $41.24 billion, which likely faces a similar fate.