You’re not wrong, even including what was available it still wasn’t anywhere near enough to make itemized deduction a reasonable option. I mentioned the plumbing mostly because I thought it was funny that it was actually included in the list of valid deductible expenses for maintaining a home office.
You might be right, it’s impossible to know for sure not being in his personal circle, but if that’s the case he should have stepped down. And if he’d built a circle of staff around him that was in alignment with his previous vision, then they might have asked him to step down. Either way it’s sad and frustrating.