'An absolute lie': Ex-DOJ official blasts Mnuchin's claim he needed a honeymoon plane for 'national security'

A former official from the Department of Justice has slammed Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's claim that his staff requested a government plane for his honeymoon in the interest of "national security."

"At the time, my staff wanted to make sure that I constantly had access to secure communication and secure information," Mnuchin said. That desire led them to put in a request for a government aircraft that would double as "portable office" during his European honeymoon with Scottish actress Louise Linton earlier this summer.

Shortly after Politico published the video on Twitter, Matthew Miller, who served as Director of the Office of Public Affairs for the Justice Department under President Barack Obama, smacked down the excuse.

"This is an absolute lie," Miller tweeted, adding that treasury secretaries are "not on the list" of government officials that require government planes. That list, Miller wrote, includes secretaries of the Department of Defense, the attorney general, the FBI director, and others.

In the interview, Mnuchin said news of his request to use a government jet for his honeymoon was "quite misreported," and that he wanted to "set the record straight."

"The government has never paid for any of my personal travel," Mnuchin told Politico.

Earlier today, news broke that the inspector general of the Treasury Department is investigating Mnuchin's request for a government plane for his honeymoon. The scandal came just weeks after Mnuchin came under scrutiny for using a government plane to watch the solar eclipse from Fort Knox, which led to another Treasury inspector general investigation and an .