Mnuchin To Congress: I’m Not The ‘King Of Foreclosures’
Steve Mnuchin Image by Getty Images
By Nathan Guttman July 28, 2017
Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin faced a tough hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday when he was grilled about his days a banker. Mnuchin was the head of OneWest Bank, one of the leading providers of mortgages that became unsustainable after the 2008 economic meltdown and led to many foreclosures.
“I take great offense to anybody that calls me the foreclosure king,” Mnuchin said during a testy exchange with Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison during a House Financial Services Committee hearing.
Ellison pressed Mnuchin on whether under his leadership, OneWest engaged in a practice known as “robosigning” in which mortgage papers were signed without examination and without making sure the lenders understood the financial liability they are taking on. He confronted Mnuchin with a 2009 testimony of the bank’s vice president in which she admitted not spending more than 30 seconds on each mortgage request and not having the papers notarized.
“I don’t think you know what robosigning is,” Mnuchin shot back at Ellison.
When later asked by Rep. Maxine Waters to apologize to Ellison, Mnuchin refused, saying that robosigning was not a legal term and that Ellison has “harassed” him with his questioning.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
