Senator Blasts Hood for Refusing to Answer Questions About Trump Video

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said Friday she is “deeply disappointed” that NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood has refused to answer her questions about a video Hood made praising President Trump.

“As the regulator of the nation’s credit unions, Mr. Hood has a responsibility to avoid using his position for partisanship,” Cortez Masto said.

And her office provided CU Times with a copy of the written questions she sent Hood following a December Senate Banking Committee hearing and Hood’s answers to those questions.

Hood does not address the nine specific questions she posed.

In October, the White House posted a video of Hood praising Trump.

“I’m particularly pleased that this president has done more for African Americans than any other president in my lifetime,” Hood said in the video.

Cortez Masto sent Hood questions about that video and a round of golf Hood played with Trump.

Cortez Masto asked Hood if he or his staff had consulted with federal ethics officials before he made the video. She also wanted to know where the video was shot, who wrote the script and whether Hood had consulted with the other two NCUA board members before posting the video on the agency’s Twitter feed.

Hood did not address the specific questions posed by the senator.

Instead, he wrote, “I am committed to ensuring that NCUA follows all applicable laws, including all ethics laws. As a general practice, I consult with the appropriate officials at the agnency [sic] when there are ethics related questions. If you have additional concerns, I am happy to have staff brief you further on this issue.”

CU Times recently consulted six government ethics experts about whether Hood’s video might have violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from participating in partisan political activities.

Three of the experts said it did not violate the Hatch Act, since Hood did not specifically endorse Trump in the video, while three said he might have violated the law.

Cortez Masto said she will seek a meeting with Hood to discuss his response to the video and the recent agency Inspector General report detailing misconduct in the NCUA General Counsel’s office.

That IG report released last week cited former agency General Counsel Michael McKenna and his former Deputy General Counsel, Lara Daly-Sims for going to strip clubs, drinking alcohol and possibly consuming marijuana during work hours.

Daly-Sims told the IG that she felt coerced by McKenna into doing those things.

Cortez Masto said she wants to press the chairman “on his commitment to follow ethics rules that apply to all independent banking regulators.”