The RGA reports:
Already dealing with questions of Hatch Act compliance and a bombshell report that his agency funneled tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded federal contracts to Barack Obama’s campaign ad firm, scandal-plagued Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray is facing yet another self-inflicted crisis. A new report from U.S. House Financial Services Committee staff suggests that Cordray misled Congress about a high-profile CFPB investigation. As Cordray still refuses to give a straight answer on his 2018 plans while more scandals pile up with each passing week, his questionable conduct as Washington, D.C.’s most power-hungry bureaucrat threatens to derail his potential Ohio gubernatorial campaign.
American Banker has more:
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray allegedly misled Congress about the agency’s investigation into Wells Fargo’s illegal sales practices and may have rushed a settlement with the bank, according to a new report by the Republican staff of the House Financial Services Committee.
The 32-page report, released Tuesday, says that GOP staff could not corroborate Cordray’s claim in congressional testimony that the CFPB was actively investigating Wells’ illegal sales practices prior to May 4, 2015, when the Los Angeles city attorney’s office filed its complaint against the bank. The report also said that CFPB could have demanded as much as $10 billion from Wells as a result of its phony-accounts scandal, but ultimately settled for $100 million because it wanted to close out the case.
The report alleges that the CFPB never conducted its own investigation but rather ‘relied primarily, if not exclusively, on the PricewaterhouseCooper’ report.
‘Internal CFPB records obtained by the committee raise grave questions as to whether Director Cordray, other senior CFPB officials, and CFPB oversight attorneys engaged in actions that had the effect of obstructing the committee’s lawful oversight related to the Wells Fargo account scandal,’ the report stated.
That included withholding key information, said the report, which was prepared under the auspices of House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling. Previous reports by the panel staff have threatened to hold Cordray in contempt for failing to turn over crucial documents.
‘Although the committee requested records that include the recommendation memorandum just days after the CFPB settled with Wells Fargo, the committee did not obtain it until September 5, 2017,’ it said.
Previously: