GOP representative: Liberals tricked Carson into $31,000 dining set

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson landed in hot water for purchasing a $31,000 dining room set for his government office with taxpayer money. But according to Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), it was not his fault.

It was all a plot by the “Deep State.”

“Somebody in the Deep State, it was not one of his people apparently, ordered a table, like a conference room table or whatever it was for a room,” Tenney said on a local radio show in upstate New York. “Ben Carson tried to — he said, you know how hard it is to turn it back because of the way that the procurement happens?”

The “Deep State” is a catch-all phrase used by Trump and some of his supporters referring to a shadowy network of unelected government officials — usually liberals or members of the intelligence community — sabotaging Trump from within.

This is already absurd enough. But the idea that there is a conspiracy to make Ben Carson buy overpriced furniture is patently ridiculous.

Furthermore, while Carson initially said he had no knowledge of the purchase, leaked emails prove this was a lie. He and his wife had personally picked it out. And a staffer who criticized the purchase even faced retaliation.

Caught in the lie, Carson furiously sought to make excuses, including that his old table was “dangerous.” White House officials also leapt to his aide, with chief of staff John Kelly insisting that $31,000 only “sounds” like a lot of money.

Tenney clearly did not do her homework on the matter, which is not unusual for her. She recently came under fire for promoting an internet hoax that most mass shooters are registered Democrats. When called out for that lie, she furiously attacked the media. She even screamed “Fake news!” at reporters during her own re-election campaign kickoff.

Ben Carson got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. And Tenney’s attempt to frame it as anything else is an insult to her voters’ intelligence.