Manure To Mnuchin Intended As Tax-Plan Protest Boasts Sender

BEL AIR, CA — The man who allegedly mailed a package of house manure to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's home has revealed himself, or at least he says he is the one who sent Mnuchin the gift-wrapped box, prompting a bomb squad response to the pricey Los Angeles neighborhood.

The Secret Service said that it located and interviewed the person claiming responsibility for delivering the gift-wrapped box of manure to Mnuchin's Bel Air home. The box was found on Saturday and police say it was marked as being from "the American people."

Robert Strong, a psychologist who works for the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health, claims he sent Mnuchin the package because the tax plan passed last week was corrupt and "brazenly ripping off the American people," calling the stunt a political act, according to an interview with a local radio station. Strong says he got the manure from a friend who owns horses.

In an interview with KPCC Radio in Southern California, Strong said he put the manure in a box, gift-wrapped it and even wrote a card.

Strong posted a photo of the card to Twitter, in which he wrote,"Mrs. Mnuchin and Trump, We're returning the gift of the Christmas tax bill. It's bulls--t. Warmest Wishes, The American People."

"What I did, I would like to compare to what Jesus did when he went into the temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, who were exploiting the people financially in the name of religion. I feel like that's what the GOP has done to the American people," Strong told KPCC.

The Secret Service did not identify the person they interviewed in connection with the package of horse manure.

"The United States Secret Service takes all threats, both alleged and confirmed, seriously," the agency said in a statement. "As a matter of practice we do not comment on our protective intelligence, criminal investigations or interviewing practices."

Strong said he realizes he's put his job at risk and is surprised that he hasn't been arrested. In the past, Strong was active with the Occupy L.A. movement.

"Here's the card that went with the box of horse manure I got Steve Mnuchin for Christmas," Strong wrote on Twitter. "Because if money is free speech so is horse s--t."

In the so-called resistance against the Trump administration, Mnuchin — a former Goldman Sachs banker — has emerged as a much-disliked figure. There was the time Mnuchin's wife, Scottish actress Louise Linton, posted a photo to Instagram descending from a government plane. When an Oregon mom made a critical comment on the photo about the cost of the trip borne by taxpayers, Linton didn't hold back, responding that the woman was "adorably out of touch."

"Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband?" she wrote. "Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country? I'm pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day 'trip' than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you'd be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours."

Linton later apologized and made her Instagram account private after many criticized her for the comment. A Treasury spokesperson said at the time that the Mnuchin family will reimburse the government for Linton's travel expenses.

Then there was the photo snapped of Mnuchin and Linton posing with a sheet of new $1 bills bearing the new Treasury Secretary's signature. The photo drew some to say Mnuchin looked like a villain in a James Bond movie.

Mnuchin, however, was flattered by the comparison.

“I never thought I’d be quoted as looking like villains from James Bond. I guess I should take that as a compliment that I look like a villain in a great, successful James Bond movie,” Mnuchin told Fox News after the photo went viral.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press