What’s with all the puffing going on in Washington?

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has apparently been carrying on a long-range ruse, regarding his success and fortune.

In a new report from Forbes, the magazine points out what they’re calling a series of ““fibs, exaggerations, omissions, fabrications and whoppers” committed by Ross, in order to make himself seem richer than he actually is, and it has been going on for 13 years.

That sounds familiar, somehow.

Forbes listed Ross’s net worth at $2.9 billion on The Forbes 400 last year, but the Commerce secretary argued his wealth was nearly $3.7 billion.

In reality, though, financial disclosure forms filed after he was tapped by President Trump to lead the Commerce Department indicate Ross has less than $700 million in assets.

As a result, Forbes said it was “intent on removing him entirely” from its list, which led to protests from Ross.

Since Trump has already said he prefers rich people to be in those positions, I guess I can see why Ross feels he must lie.

He claims he has trusts for his family that are worth more than $2 billion, and that he didn’t list them on the federal filings between the campaign to the election.

Forbes have not been convinced, and set out to get the information needed.

“After one month of digging, Forbes is confident it has found the answer: That money never existed,” Forbes said. “It seems clear that Ross lied to us, the latest in an apparent sequence of fibs, exaggerations, omissions, fabrications and whoppers that have been going on with Forbes since 2004.”

The Commerce Department told Forbes Ross filed “all required disclosures in accordance with the law and in consultation with both legal counsel and ethics officials.”

They’re writing it off as a communication error, or a misunderstanding.

Let me just sum it up: $700 million is still a LOT of money, and nothing to sneeze at.

That being said, just the idea that there has to be a rush to be seen as part of the Billionaire’s Club, in order to fit in with this administration is just… weird.