$100 million here and $100 million there and pretty soon you’re starting to talk about real money. Staffers on the Senate Finance Committee have determine that Trump Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin failed to disclose $100 million of personal assets in the paperwork he’s filed. The Washington Post reports:
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department initially failed to disclose his interests in a Cayman Islands corporation, as well as more than $100 million in personal assets, according to a memo by Democratic staffers on the Senate Finance Committee that was obtained by The Washington Post.
Steven T. Mnuchin faced lawmakers Thursday in a testy confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. Mnuchin has already come under fire for his management of a California bank accused of aggressively foreclosing on homeowners and discriminating against minorities — charges that he denies. Democrats have also sought to highlight the former Goldman Sachs executive’s deep ties to Wall Street in hopes of undercutting Trump’s populist appeal, and the new details of his financial holdings are likely to provide them more ammunition.
I don’t believe that these sorts of revelations will end. I think that we’ll have a steady drip, drip of them for the next four years or, heavens forfend, the next eight years.
In seeking nominees for high political appointments you’re either going to get party nomenklatura or prominent people from outside government. In the 21st century that means rich people. That’s what voting for change means.
The financial affairs of rich people are complicated. They will unfold over a period of years and a lot of what we’ll learn won’t look good.
Seems to me in the late 20th and early 21st century, people inside government are rich people too. Don’t these kinds of revelations come about with every round of new appointments? Maybe the numbers are somewhat bigger this time, and no doubt more hay will be made of it.
I profess to be rather not shocked – as the article notes he did amend his disclosure form prior to the confirmation hearing.
Don’t forget, treasury secretary tend to be very rich men. Rubin, Paulsen, Lew were all in the 9-10 digit wealth.
It’s probably a better focus on positions which usually are not filled by rich folks.
“The financial affairs of rich people are complicated.”
That’s certainly true, but they don’t have to incorporate wrongdoing or suffer from lack of transparency. (You should see my tax returns. But any competent tax accountant or attorney could interpret them rather easily and swiftly.) As to the subject at hand, it’s hard to “misremember” a hundred million in assets. This is disappointing.
That said, any notion that this is unusual is naive. That’s a sad commentary.
I’m not alleging wrongdoing but the optics are terrible and, as I wrote in the post, I think that we will see a neverending drip of revelations like this.
Where can I get a broker like Tom Price’s? That kind of timing is priceless!
Stanley correctly points out that the wealthy are no longer content to stay in the background and pay for influence, they now want to directly run the government. South America here we come!
Steve
Along with the drip, drip of revelations will be an accompaniment of allegations, prefaced by bad optics. However, it still remains to be seen whether or not if this new, unseemly, rich man will be as bad as some think him to be…or, if he surprises his critics and pragmatically does good work for the people.
I agree there will be scandals galore; but Timothy Geithner had a embarrassing “optical” scandal http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=6704526 and yet Obama claims he ran a scandal free presidency.
There’s a rich! tradition of the wealthy running this country. Dave had a post the other day that George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and John Kennedy all had 100+ million dollars. Or for senior officials, how’s Penny Pritzker, John Kerry, Robert Kennedy, Joe Kennedy? I do not understand how American political culture permits such wealthy people have such power – its not something Canada does, and the British(!) have been going away from this. But it is what it is.
And yes, the drip of revelations will be neverending – the press will be doing their job again.
CO- Yup , there have always been some, but when have we ever had a Cabinet full of them like this?
Steve
I have no idea if there is true wrongdoing of, say, the Clinton kind. My apparently unclear point was that no matter how complex ones personal financial affairs, failing to disclose a hundred million dollars in assets is hard to chalk up to an oversight. Bad optics, poor judgment and begs the question…………..WTF, dude?
I swear I lost about 100 million too. Promise. I keep looking around the house but can find it. Can anyone spot me 50 mill and I’ll pay you back when I find my stash?