Watchdog: Housing department broke the law with $40,000 furniture purchase for Ben Carson

In a letter Thursday to Congress, the GAO's general counsel said HUD broke the law when it obligated over $31,000 for the purchase of a dining set and nearly $9,000 for the purchase and installation of a new dishwasher and water treatment system.

Under law, federal employees are prohibited from spending in excess of an appropriation and an agency is restricted under law from spending more than $5,000 to furnish or redecorate an office without notifying Congress.

The government watchdog agency said HUD did not violate the law when it purchased new blinds for Carson's office because it did not exceed the $5,000 limit.

CNN has reached out to HUD for comment.

CNN previously reported that in early 2017, a top HUD career employee chief was pressured to "find money" beyond the legal $5,000 limit to renovate Carson's office. The official, Helen Foster, claimed she was demoted when she had refused to comply. At the time, a HUD spokesperson disputed Foster's account.

A HUD spokesperson had also previously told CNN that "Mrs. Carson and the secretary had no awareness" that the dining room set was being purchased. Internal HUD emails, however, indicated that the Carsons had picked out the furniture.

Carson testified before Congress last March pinning the selection of the furniture on his wife and claiming he was not aware of the more than $31,000 price tag until it was reported by the media. He also said he canceled the order and returned the money to the US Treasury.

In a statement Thursday, Sen. Jack Reed called GAO's conclusions of Carson and HUD's actions as "another example of the Trump Administration trying to cast aside the law if it doesn't suit them."

Reed, the top Democrat on the committee that oversees HUD, argued that Carson "showed a willful disregard for the appropriate use of taxpayers dollars."

"I am also disturbed by the pattern of false statements and attempts to conceal this incident, mislead the public, and prevent Congress and the American people from seeing how taxpayer dollars are being mismanaged," Reed said. "There needs to be more accountability at HUD and stronger oversight of the Trump Administration or else this pattern of unlawful behavior will continue, and I worry it won't just be a small amount of money the next time."

CNN's Rene Marsh and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report.

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