Treasury pick defends foreclosure actions, asset disclosure
WASHINGTON — Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick as Treasury secretary, clashed with Democrats during a lengthy confirmation hearing Thursday over his handling of thousands of mortgage foreclosures and his failure to initially disclose to the committee nearly $100 million in assets and interests in a Cayman Islands corporation.
Mnuchin said the failure to disclose the assets was an oversight that he had corrected when it was brought to his attention by staffers of the Senate Finance Committee. He said he had followed the advice of a lawyer who believed the disclosures were not necessary.
But Democrats seized on the issue as evidence of serious ethics challenges among Trump’s Cabinet nominees.
“Never before has the Senate considered such an ethically challenged slate of nominees for key Cabinet positions,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.