Trump's Medicare Chief Tried To Stiff Taxpayers For $47,000 In Stolen Jewelry
Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
December 8, 2019

She tried to reach for $47,000 but HHS Secretary Seema Verma was ultimately only reimbursed $2,852.40, a story which is just coming to light now via Politico. Seema Verma, if you may remember, is the Trump administrator who recently asked taxpayers to foot a $2 million bill for Republican consultants to boost her profile and visibility in a PR campaign.

The Trump swamp is so much worse, so much more blatant than anything Washington has ever seen it's not even funny.

Source: Politico

A top Trump health appointee sought to have taxpayers reimburse her for the costs of jewelry, clothing and other possessions, including a $5,900 Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, that were stolen while in her luggage during a work-related trip, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.

Seema Verma, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, filed a $47,000 claim for lost property on Aug. 20, 2018, after her bags were stolen while she was giving a speech in San Francisco the prior month. The property was not insured, Verma wrote in her filing to the Health and Human Services department.

The federal health department ultimately reimbursed Verma $2,852.40 for her claim, a CMS spokesperson said.

Verma’s claim included $43,065 for about two dozen pieces of jewelry, based off an appraisal she'd received from a jeweler about three weeks after the theft. Among Verma's stolen jewelry was an Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, made of gold, prasiolite and diamonds, that Verma’s jeweler valued at $5,900.

Verma’s claim also included about $2,000 to cover the cost of her stolen clothes and another $2,000 to cover the cost of other stolen goods, including a $325 claim for moisturizer and a $349 claim for noise-cancelling headphones.

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