Emails show Carson family fingerprints at HUD despite warnings

By Juana Summers, Rene Marsh, Nia-Malika Henderson and Sara Ganim, CNN

Updated 11:11 AM ET, Fri February 2, 2018

Washington (CNN)Newly obtained documents show the extensive involvement that family members of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, especially his son, Benjamin Jr., play in official business, despite strong warnings from agency lawyers.

The documents show that Carson Jr., who is not a federal employee, continued to play a significant role in his father's agency, including but not limited to organizing Carson's 2017 "listening tour" in Baltimore. Yet department lawyers told the secretary directly last summer that Carson Jr.'s involvement could violate federal ethics rules or give the appearance that the secretary was using his office for his son's private gain.

Carson said in a statement that he was asking the department's inspector general to look into the issue.

"My goal in Baltimore was to listen and help the people of Baltimore have access to safe affordable housing," the statement read. "In my role as HUD Secretary, I try to be as inclusive as possible and talk with a wide variety of people because when it comes to increasing access to affordable housing, no rock should remain unturned. From my very first day at HUD I have insisted that HUD operate in an open and ethical manner, in every way. To clear up any suspicion I am calling for the HUD Inspector General to review this matter."

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http://www.cnn.com/2018/02/02/politics/ben-carson-family-hud/index.html