Democrats Press Mulvaney on Official Who Wrote Racist Blogs

Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are demanding to know how Eric Blankenstein got his job at the CFPB even though he had written racist blog posts when he was a college student.

“Mr. Blankenstein was not hired through the competitive service process like most CFPB employees; he is one of your hand-selected political appointees,” the Democrats, including ranking Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio, wrote to CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney this week.

The Washington Post last week that Blankenstein, who oversees the agency’s fair lending office, had written racist blogs.

“It is unclear whether his appointment is due to a failure to investigate Mr. Blankenstein’s background prior to his appointment, Mr. Blankenstein withholding information from you and the CFPB, or an informed decision on your part to ignore his public comments,” the Democratic senators wrote.

And they want to know if Blankenstein is going to keep his job.

The Democrats’ move follows a letter from members of National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB employees and internal emails from some career agency employees demanding Blankenstein’s ouster.

So far, Mulvaney has not made any public move concerning Blankenstein.

“I hope everyone understands that this a unique circumstance from a management perspective and that this matter needs to be handled with the utmost professionalism,” he wrote in an email to agency employees.

He said the internal emails raised issues he is exploring but added that he does not intend to undo changes he has made at the agency.

“I plan on proceeding with the utmost respect for all of those involved,” he wrote.