Hatch warns Democrats against smearing Treasury nominee
By THOMAS BURR From The Salt Lake Tribune
Ex-Goldman Sachs exec dodged taxes, didn’t disclose $100M in assets, critics charge.
Washington • Sen. Orrin Hatch warned Democrats on Thursday not to go after President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Treasury Department, Steven Mnuchin, and defended his career as an investment banker.
“Objectively speaking, I don’t believe anyone can reasonably argue that Mr. Mnuchin is unqualified for the position,” said Hatch, a Utah Republican and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. “So I hope we don’t have those type of stupid arguments.”
Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, has come under fire for his time running OneWest Bank when it foreclosed on scores of homeowners. Democrats have charged that Mnuchin sought to kick people out of their houses quickly and discriminated against minority homeowners.
“Today we are in the midst of an unprecedented effort to stall and prevent confirmation on the Cabinet nominations of the incoming president,” Hatch said. “It is disappointing that we have taken this turn in the Senate where the minority openly and in so many words is committed to obstructing nominees to positions across the board.”
Democrats on the committee, though, were quick to respond, saying that Mnuchin has shown disregard for paying his own fair share of taxes.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said that average Americans have to pay their taxes and don’t have the resources to cut corners as he alleged Mnuchin did.
“The rules are different for the powerful and the well-connected,” Wyden said. “They have armies of lawyers and accountants at their disposal. With the right advice, the most fortunate individuals in our country can decide for themselves how much tax to pay and [when] to pay it.”
Mnuchin, Wyden said, set up hedge funds based in Anquilla and the Cayman Islands where the tax rate is zero and “it certainty wasn’t for the ease of commute [or] the infrastructure.”
Mnuchin initially failed to disclose to the Finance Committee $100 million in assets and interests in those off-shore funds, calling it an oversight based on advice from a lawyer that disclosure was not necessary. It was corrected, Mnuchin said, when he was informed about the disclosure requirement.
Hatch said that “no one has credibly alleged” that any laws, regulations or industry standards were violated by Mnuchin.
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