Watch this Ben Carson testimony about the $31,000 table and chairs he ordered up for HUD. It's so classic, this instant lie that it's all his wife's fault.

“I left it with my wife to help choose something,” he said. He also told a House Appropriations subcommittee that he “dismissed” himself from the process because he had more important things to do. So many more important things.

He also testified that he didn't know about the price until press reports came out, telling Rep. Katherine Clark he "investigated and immediately had it canceled. Not that we don’t need the furniture but I thought that was excessive.”

Carson said his wife selected a style and a color, "with the caveat that we were not happy with the pricing and they needed to find something. If anybody knew my wife they would realize how ridiculous this was, she’s the most frugal person in the world.”

Please proceed, Secretary Carson.

He excused his wife's role in the selection of the table with self-deprecation, saying that if it were up to him, "my office would probably look like a hospital waiting room.” Carson also volunteered that he is “not really big into decorating” and so asked his wife to help.

It's also really convenient to blame the spouse who is not appointed by anyone or confirmed by any legislative body for excessive spending, but at the end of the day, his name is on the door and it is his decision as to how those funds are spent. Candy Carson did not sign off on the invoices scheduled for payment.

Ben Carson has been Grifty McGrifterson since the day he said Obamacare is the worst thing to happen to the country since slavery, but we have the receipts (literally) to show that Carson is lying this time.

Perhaps we should send this video off to the Appropriations subcommittee. Or the Ethics Office.

Oh, wait. There really is no Ethics office now, is there?