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Through a cruel twist of fate, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has become perhaps the most powerful man in Washington https://www.wired.com/story/the-relief-package-ushers-in-trumps-planned-economy/?emci=1a8f097f-f874-ea11-a94c-00155d03b1e8&emdi=2e85638a-fc74-ea11-a94c-00155d03b1e8&ceid=5757635
Mnuchin keeps a lower profile than some of Trump’s other lackeys, making it easy to forget just how bad he really is
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Mnuchin keeps a lower profile than some of Trump’s other lackeys, making it easy to forget just how bad he really is
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But never fear, the Revolving Door Project is here to ensure you know all you need to about the Treasury Secretary Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer trust with the keys to reshape the American economy
We’re posting three new facts about Steven Mnuchin per day #MnuchinFacts
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We’re posting three new facts about Steven Mnuchin per day #MnuchinFacts
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Lots of hardworking people are struggling right now.
With a net worth of over $300 million, we think it’s safe to say that Mnuchin cannot relate.
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With a net worth of over $300 million, we think it’s safe to say that Mnuchin cannot relate.
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Nor did he work his way up from modest roots. Did you know his grandfather co-founded a yacht club in the Hamptons?
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His father is a former partner at Goldman Sachs, “a pioneer in stock trading” who spent 35 years with the firm before becoming an art dealer
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Mnuchin had every advantage to get ahead. He studied at the Riverdale Country School (total cost of attendance today: $56,210) before going on to Yale.
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Mnuchin spent the first 17 years of his career at Goldman Sachs, rising to the rank of partner. He is the third Treasury Secretary to have worked for “Government” Sachs
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After Goldman, Mnuchin moved into the world of hedge funds, first at ESL Investments (owned by Eddie Lampert of Sears infamy), then at SFM Capital Management, and finally on to founding his own fund, Dune Capital Management
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Mnuchin’s hedge fund was registered in - where else? - the Cayman Islands
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Dune specialized in real estate finance and made investments in, among other things, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago
(10/?) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/us/politics/steven-terner-mnuchin-trump-treasury-secretary.html
(10/?) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/us/politics/steven-terner-mnuchin-trump-treasury-secretary.html
In this same time period, Mnuchin established Dune Entertainment Companies a film financing operation that backed movies like The Devil Wears Prada, X-Men and Avatar
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We’re all being asked to put a lot of faith in Mnuchin’s judgment, but his track record hardly inspires confidence.
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To start off with, Mnuchin decided in 2013 to go into business with Brett Ratner, merging their respective film companies to become RatPac-Dune Entertainment
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Ratner has since been accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by at least six women
(15/?) https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-brett-ratner-allegations-20171101-htmlstory.html
(15/?) https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-brett-ratner-allegations-20171101-htmlstory.html
When Mnuchin wasn’t making films, he was running a bank, badly.
Mnuchin achieved infamy and won the title of “foreclosure king,” at the head of OneWest Bank.
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Mnuchin achieved infamy and won the title of “foreclosure king,” at the head of OneWest Bank.
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In 2009, Mnuchin assembled a group of private investors to purchase the failed bank IndyMac from the FDIC
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Mnuchin and his associates (Michael Dell, George Soros, Christopher Flowers, and John Paulson, among others) got the bank at a bargain rate of $1.5 bn (much less than the value of its assets)
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But, that wasn’t enough! They also secured a shared loss agreement from the FDIC in which the agency covered 80% of all losses over $2.5 bn and 95% of losses over $3.8 bn
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With these favorable terms in place, IndyMac, renamed OneWest, set to work kicking people out of their homes at a feverish pace, initiating over 137,000 foreclosure proceedings nationwide, ignoring requirements that it offer loan modifications
https://www.salon.com/2018/12/21/steve-mnuchins-path-of-destruction-leads-from-wall-street-to-trumps-treasury_partner/
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https://www.salon.com/2018/12/21/steve-mnuchins-path-of-destruction-leads-from-wall-street-to-trumps-treasury_partner/
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In the relatively brief period when Mnuchin and co. owned the bank, it faced over 800 lawsuits, approximately one third of which were for improper foreclosure
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In what is by far the most common story used to illustrate OneWest (and by extension Mnuchin’s) ruthlessness, the bank foreclosed on a 90-year-old woman over a 27 cent balance
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/foreclosing-on-a-90-year-old-woman-over-27-cents-steven-mnuchins-days-at-onewest
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https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/foreclosing-on-a-90-year-old-woman-over-27-cents-steven-mnuchins-days-at-onewest
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OneWest was so bad that it even faced enforcement action from an administration that would become famous for its reticence to hold powerful bankers accountable.
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The Office of Thrift Supervision found a pattern of “unsafe and unsound” methods for dealing with loans and foreclosures in 2009 and 2010.
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https://www.occ.gov/static/ots/misc-docs/consent-orders-97665.pdf
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https://www.occ.gov/static/ots/misc-docs/consent-orders-97665.pdf
OneWest paid $8 million in remediation for improper foreclosure practices and was assigned an independent monitor.
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And then there was OneWest’s reverse mortgage subsidiary, Financial Freedom
FF made up 17% of the reverse mortgage market but was responsible for 39% of reverse mortgage foreclosures
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FF made up 17% of the reverse mortgage market but was responsible for 39% of reverse mortgage foreclosures
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In 2017, FF settled for $89 million for fraudulently claiming federal insurance on reverse mortgage loans after failing to meet regulatory requirements.
(24/?) https://theintercept.com/2017/05/16/steve-mnuchins-old-company-just-settled-for-89-million-for-ripping-off-the-government-on-dodgy-loans/
(24/?) https://theintercept.com/2017/05/16/steve-mnuchins-old-company-just-settled-for-89-million-for-ripping-off-the-government-on-dodgy-loans/
OneWest also did business with Ocwen Financial, a mortgage servicer that has twice been penalized by the CFPB for engaging in unfair and deceptive practices.
(25/?) https://fortune.com/2017/04/21/ocwen-financial-cfpb-deceptive-practices/
(25/?) https://fortune.com/2017/04/21/ocwen-financial-cfpb-deceptive-practices/
In case all of that wasn’t enough, OneWest was also accused of racially discriminatory practices, like refusing to open banks in minority communities.
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In the time that Mnuchin and his associates owned OneWest, it turned a profit of about $3 bn. Most of that, however, came from the FDIC via the loss-sharing agreement.
The FDIC, meanwhile, lost $13bn on IndyMac/OneWest
(27/?) https://www.salon.com/2018/12/21/steve-mnuchins-path-of-destruction-leads-from-wall-street-to-trumps-treasury_partner/
The FDIC, meanwhile, lost $13bn on IndyMac/OneWest
(27/?) https://www.salon.com/2018/12/21/steve-mnuchins-path-of-destruction-leads-from-wall-street-to-trumps-treasury_partner/
In 2015, OneWest announced a merger with CIT Bank
Many community groups vigorously opposed the deal on the grounds that OneWest had violated the Community Reinvestment Act
(28/?) https://theintercept.com/2018/09/29/joseph-otting-occ-onewest-bank-merger-cit/
Many community groups vigorously opposed the deal on the grounds that OneWest had violated the Community Reinvestment Act
(28/?) https://theintercept.com/2018/09/29/joseph-otting-occ-onewest-bank-merger-cit/
A number of nonprofits did come to the bank’s defense but it was later revealed that many of them had received donations from OneWest or from Mnuchin himself.
Mnuchin even served on the boards of two of them
(29/?) https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/01/mnuchin-ties-to-nonprofits/
Mnuchin even served on the boards of two of them
(29/?) https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/01/mnuchin-ties-to-nonprofits/
The merger’s opponents succeeded in getting regulators to call for a hearing (something they did with frightening infrequency)
(30/?) https://prospect.org/article/revolving-door-and-assault-on-community-reinvestment
(30/?) https://prospect.org/article/revolving-door-and-assault-on-community-reinvestment
Nonetheless, regulators eventually the deal (after OneWest's CEO and now Comptroller of the Currency, Joseph Otting engaged in some astroturfing)
(31/?) https://theintercept.com/2018/09/29/joseph-otting-occ-onewest-bank-merger-cit/
(31/?) https://theintercept.com/2018/09/29/joseph-otting-occ-onewest-bank-merger-cit/
Mnuchin’s sale of his share in CIT Group (the bank with which OneWest merged) made him $97 million
(32/?) https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2018/07/02/steven-mnuchin-brought-in-at-least-130-million-from-films-investments-and-stock-sales-last-year/#2519fc3e4c49
(32/?) https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2018/07/02/steven-mnuchin-brought-in-at-least-130-million-from-films-investments-and-stock-sales-last-year/#2519fc3e4c49
Altogether, Mnuchin is worth a whopping $400 million, making him one of Trump’s wealthiest cabinet members
(33/?) https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2019/07/22/inside-the-400-million-fortune-of-trumps-treasury-secretary-steve-mnuchin/#6f8959b56333
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Mnuchin sold $130 in assets when he became Treasury Secretary, on which he was allowed to defer capital gains because he was making the sale to avoid conflict of interest laws
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But Mnuchin has not escaped serious questions about conflicts of interests.
In 2019, OGE refused to certify Mnuchin’s financial disclosure because his wife maintained a stake and an executive position in the film company from which he’d “divested”
(35/?) https://www.citizensforethics.org/mnuchins-financial-disclosure-third-ethics-watchdog-refused-to-certify/
In 2019, OGE refused to certify Mnuchin’s financial disclosure because his wife maintained a stake and an executive position in the film company from which he’d “divested”
(35/?) https://www.citizensforethics.org/mnuchins-financial-disclosure-third-ethics-watchdog-refused-to-certify/
Steven Mnuchin joined the Trump campaign as its national finance chairman in May 2016.
This was among Mnuchin’s first forays into politics and his past political giving had trended towards Democrats.
So why did he get involved at all?
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This was among Mnuchin’s first forays into politics and his past political giving had trended towards Democrats.
So why did he get involved at all?
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As two reporters put it, he may have “spotted the trade of a lifetime. In exchange for a few months unpaid work [he] gets a shot at joining President Trump’s cabinet.”
(37/?) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-31/steven-mnuchin-businessweek
(37/?) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-31/steven-mnuchin-businessweek
Mnuchin all but confirmed this theory later, stating “Nobody’s going to be like, ‘Well, why did he do this?’ if I end up in the administration.”
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And, of course, this cynical, transactional investment paid off. Mncuhin would go on to raise $169 million for the now-President and earn himself the role as Treasury Secretary in the process
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Mnuchin’s history at OneWest was a hot topic during his confirmation hearings. How did he get around it? By lying of course!
Mnuchin denied that OneWest ever robo-signed foreclosure documents despite “copious evidence” that they did
(40/?) https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/mnuchin-again-denies-robo-signing-despite-yet-more-evidence-he-is-lying/
Mnuchin denied that OneWest ever robo-signed foreclosure documents despite “copious evidence” that they did
(40/?) https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/mnuchin-again-denies-robo-signing-despite-yet-more-evidence-he-is-lying/
Fortunately for him, his dishonesty posed no problems for Senate Republicans, and he was confirmed in spite of it.
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Having learned that lying carried no consequences, Mnuchin continued to do so, about his past and otherwise
(42/?) https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/the-treasury-secretary-just-lied-under-oath/
(42/?) https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/the-treasury-secretary-just-lied-under-oath/
Throughout 2017, taxpayers footed the over $1 million bill for Mnuchin’s flights on military aircraft
(43/?) https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/15/steven-mnuchin-plane-travel-cost-421176
(43/?) https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/15/steven-mnuchin-plane-travel-cost-421176
That included a flight with his wife, Louise Linton, to KY to see the solar eclipse. The trip became famous after Linton posted on Instagram, touting her designer clothing, and then aggressively responded to a commenter who questioned the expense
(44/?) https://www.businessinsider.com/louise-linton-instagram-apology-post-wealth-2017-9
(44/?) https://www.businessinsider.com/louise-linton-instagram-apology-post-wealth-2017-9
Not long after Linton’s diatribe, in which she wrote, “Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?” we learned, ironically, that Mnuchin had in fact requested a flight for his honeymoon, but had later withdrawn the request
(45/?) https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/politics/mnuchin-military-flights.html?module=inline
(45/?) https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/politics/mnuchin-military-flights.html?module=inline
Mnuchin has been an incredibly loyal lackey for President Trump, coming to his defense on issues both consequential and trivial
As one author put it, Mnuchin has been “like the kid trying to cop favor with the school bully”
(46/?) https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/steven-mnuchin-is-donald-trumps-most-loyal-minion/
As one author put it, Mnuchin has been “like the kid trying to cop favor with the school bully”
(46/?) https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/steven-mnuchin-is-donald-trumps-most-loyal-minion/
That means that when the President tweeted about his displeasure that the Fed was raising interest rates, Mnuchin jumped into action to insist that the President ‘absolutely respects’ the Fed’s independence
(47/?) https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/399392-mnuchin-trump-absolutely-respects-the-independence-of-the-fed
(47/?) https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/399392-mnuchin-trump-absolutely-respects-the-independence-of-the-fed
When the President criticized NFL players for taking a knee to protest police violence, Mnuchin eagerly jumped into the fray.
(48/?) https://www.thenation.com/article/steven-mnuchin-is-donald-trumps-most-loyal-minion/
(48/?) https://www.thenation.com/article/steven-mnuchin-is-donald-trumps-most-loyal-minion/
When Trump turned his ire towards the major of San Juan, Mnuchin was quick to take to the air waves to double down on the attack
(49/?) https://www.thenation.com/article/steven-mnuchin-is-donald-trumps-most-loyal-minion/
(49/?) https://www.thenation.com/article/steven-mnuchin-is-donald-trumps-most-loyal-minion/
And, of course, when President Trump “both sides”-ed altercations in Charlottesville, Mnuchin came to his defense
(50/?) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/08/19/mnuchin-defends-trumps-comments-on-charlottesville-rebuffs-calls-to-resign/?utm_term=.48ee2617dc7d
(50/?) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/08/19/mnuchin-defends-trumps-comments-on-charlottesville-rebuffs-calls-to-resign/?utm_term=.48ee2617dc7d
From the administration’s early days, Mnuchin has also been the face of the effort to keep Trump’s tax returns hidden.
In 2017, Mnuchin defended the president’s decision saying Americans “plenty of information” about the president’s finances
(51/?) https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/04/26/mnuchin-trump-tax-returns/100940974/
In 2017, Mnuchin defended the president’s decision saying Americans “plenty of information” about the president’s finances
(51/?) https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/04/26/mnuchin-trump-tax-returns/100940974/
Of course, Americans overwhelmingly disagreed that they had enough information about Trump’s financial entanglements. But why let facts get in the way?
(52/?) https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-tax-return-poll_n_5cabb42fe4b01b34503a59e9
(52/?) https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-tax-return-poll_n_5cabb42fe4b01b34503a59e9
When Rep. Richard Neal (belatedly) requested Trump’s tax returns last year using a well-established congressional authority, it was Mnuchin who refused to hand them over.
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Then, Mnuchin refused again after Neal issued a subpoena for the financial docs.
People frustrated that, over 3 years after Trump took office, they still do not have basic info about his finances (particularly relevant amidst the bailout) have Mnuchin to thank!
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People frustrated that, over 3 years after Trump took office, they still do not have basic info about his finances (particularly relevant amidst the bailout) have Mnuchin to thank!
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Mnuchin, as Treasury Secretary, has tremendous power, power that has only been enhanced thanks to the bailout.
When he wants, that power can be used for good (like getting publicly traded companies to return bailout funds)
(55/?) https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-whatever-mnuchin-wants-mnuchin-gets/?emci=c8c80c8c-4386-ea11-a94c-00155d03b1e8&emdi=7c6eebcf-4486-ea11-a94c-00155d03b1e8&ceid=5898612
When he wants, that power can be used for good (like getting publicly traded companies to return bailout funds)
(55/?) https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-whatever-mnuchin-wants-mnuchin-gets/?emci=c8c80c8c-4386-ea11-a94c-00155d03b1e8&emdi=7c6eebcf-4486-ea11-a94c-00155d03b1e8&ceid=5898612
But, much more often he uses it to protect or empower those of his ilk (i.e. refusing to hand over the tax returns, or failing to lift a finger to stop debt collectors from taking stimulus checks)
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For more on that read @DavidDayen’s Unsanitized (and subscribe to get this sort of incisive analysis daily) https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-whatever-mnuchin-wants-mnuchin-gets/?emci=c8c80c8c-4386-ea11-a94c-00155d03b1e8&emdi=7c6eebcf-4486-ea11-a94c-00155d03b1e8&ceid=5898612
