Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday blasted one of the highest-ranking bank regulators in the Trump administration with a line of questioning he dubbed as “insulting.”
Ms. Warren asked Office of the Comptroller of the Currency chief Joseph Otting whether he would publicize its assessment of Wells Fargo’s new CEO, currently vacant after previous CEO Tim Sloan resigned in March following multiple scandals.
Mr. Otting said he would not disclose the assessment, stating it was his “prerogative” and adding “no one has been tougher on Wells Fargo than myself.”
“You mean at the OCC? That’s a low bar,” Ms. Warren said.
“I would disagree with that. I find that insulting, that you would make that comment,” Mr. Otting said.
“Good!” Ms. Warren said.
“You know, people all across this country were scammed and squeezed by Wells Fargo. Their houses were taken away, their cars were stolen, because the bank’s executives were more concerned about making mountains of money than about following the law,” she said, possibly referring to a Wells Fargo scandal where employees were opening accounts without customers’ knowledge so they could meet company-set quotas.
“And the OCC never uttered a peep about their executives who were leading this. The OCC blew it once by letting Tim Sloan take over. This time, you need to show your work and make your supervision public. That way, consumers and Congress can hold you accountable,” she said before ending her time.
Ms. Warren, who is also running for the Democratic presidential nomination, slammed J.P. Morgan Chase for a tweet in late April suggesting customers’ bank accounts have low balances because they don’t spend wisely.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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