New Emails Show Senior HUD Official Cited Trump Family in Personnel Dispute

Newly released emails obtained in response to American Oversight’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and litigation reveal that former Trump family aide Lynne Patton, who was appointed to a senior position in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), cited her ties to Eric Trump in attempting to get a colleague fired in early 2017.

“Eric Trump agrees … and told me to call Jared, if necessary,” wrote Patton in a February 2017 email.

Read the full set of emails uncovered by American Oversight here.

According to the Washington Post, Patton now insists that the situation was quite different from what she had written 22 months earlier. “Eric made it very clear to me not to involve him in any government issues and to go through proper channels,” Patton told the Post after her emails had been released to American Oversight.

Within four months of her name-dropping email, Patton was promoted to be the HUD official overseeing the New York and New Jersey region, despite having no experience in housing policy. The Trump Organization owns multiple properties in that region that could be affected by HUD policies.