 In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore.Internal documents obtained by the "Washington Post" under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges".The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain".