How HUD official Lynne Patton turned the Michael Cohen hearing into a reality TV audition
By Tracy Jan Tracy Jan Reporter covering the intersection of race and the economy Email Bio Follow March 1 at 5:33 PM Her cameo appearance at the Michael Cohen hearing — a bit of stagecraft intended to dispel accusations of racism against President Trump — provoked an instant backlash from black politicians and the public.
The show, by the producers of “The Real Housewives of Potomac” and “Shahs of Sunset,” would center on a group of powerful black women such as Patton, Trump campaign adviser Katrina Pierson and conservative commentator Candace Owens. Leslie Oren, spokeswoman for Truly Original, said the show is being conceived as a “serious” documentary series. It is still in development and has yet to be pitched.
The production company approached her again in 2018, when she floated the reality-show concept to HUD officials. In her memo, Patton asked whether she would continue to be subject to government regulations if she took an unpaid leave of absence. She even proposed temporarily resigning her HUD post when filming was expected to begin in the summer of 2019 and asked whether she could legally be rehired after two months.
She moved into New York City public housing in February to highlight the deplorable living conditions — Rats! Black mold! Getting trapped in an elevator! — that prompted a conference call with the president himself. But Patton said she had to suspend her month-long stay to be in Washington this week for mandatory HUD meetings.
“I was not there to represent an entire race of people. I was there to represent one man,” Patton said on the show, emphatically pointing her finger in the air. Her June 2017 promotion at HUD from a Carson senior adviser to regional administrator overseeing the nation’s largest housing authority stirred controversy because of her lack of housing expertise and accusations that she had embellished her résumé.
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