Trump’s treasury pick defends business dealings

WASHINGTON—Steven Mnuchin, the wealthy businessman President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead the Treasury Department, defended his lengthy business record before the Senate Finance Committee today.

Mnuchin, 54, made millions at Goldman Sachs and then as a regional banker and Hollywood producer before becoming Trump’s chief economic strategist on the campaign trail.

He relived the many chapters of his business past today, claiming he did not use offshore investments in the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes. He also answered tough questions about his involvement in the housing crisis.

“Since I was first nominated to serve as treasury secretary, I have been maligned as taking advantage of others’ hardships in order to earn a buck. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Mnuchin said.

While running IndyMac bank, later rebranded as OneWest Bank, during the housing crisis in 2008, Mnunchin foreclosed on more than 36,000 homes in California alone. His work earned him the moniker “foreclosure king.”

“Your company took people out of their homes,” Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said.

Mnuchin said he did everything he could to keep people in their homes and did not take advantage of the situation.

“Let me be clear, my group had nothing to do with the faulty loans,” he said. “Despite our inability to save all homes from foreclosure, I am proud of OneWest Bank.”

Senators on both sides of the aisle attested to the importance the treasury secretary position and the wealth of responsibilities that come with it. The head of the Treasury Department is fifth in the presidential line of succession and works on everything from tax collection and fiscal policy to regulations on banks, federal debt management, and implementing international sanctions.

Mnuchin answered questions from senators for more than five hours after a brief ruckus at the beginning.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the committee’s top Democrat, finished a lengthy opening statement accusing Mnuchin of taking advantage of U.S. laws to gain wealth and callously foreclosing on thousands of families’ homes. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., offered Wyden might want to take Valium, medication to quell anxiety. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio., jumped in and called Roberts’ comments outrageous. Roberts argued for a minute and left without returning.

Wyden and other Democrats grilled Mnuchin for failing to divulge $100 million in assets on his 42-page financial disclosure form. Mnuchin said he submitted over 5,000 pages to the committee, and any oversight was unintentional.

But Wyden was relentless.

“The rules are different for the powerful and well-connected,” Wyden said.

Mnuchin is reportedly worth more than $600 million but said today he has divested from all his business interests in preparation to join the Trump administration.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Mnuchin’s business success and experience are an asset to the job and make him uniquely qualified.

“I hope we can get things going in the right direction with this new administration—and if it does, I think you’re going to be one of the reasons,” Hatch said to Mnuchin.

If confirmed, Mnuchin will have a number of important issues to work on, the debt ceiling chief among them. A suspension of the United States’ debt ceiling will end in March. If Congress does not raise the debt limit, the country will experience its first default on more than $20 trillion in debt. Mnuchin said today he hopes the debt ceiling will rise sooner rather than later.

He added the United States has a responsibility to its debt, and he expects to honor that.

Mnuchin stayed in line with Trump, saying he did not want to cut entitlements to reduce spending because economic growth would cure a multitude of sins.

He said the first step to promote growth would be comprehensive tax reform.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., pressured Mnuchin to take a stance on Russia. Mnuchin said he supports the current economic sanctions against the country but would not commit to additional penalties without more information.