New reporting suggests that Richard Cordray’s record as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is coming back to haunt him in the Governor’s race.
As Bloomberg reported on Cordray’s bureaucracy – “Despite the fact that “consumer protection” is part of the agency’s name, Republicans have found plenty to attack.”
This includes Cordray’s overregulation of community banks and credit unions which led 70 U.S. Senators to send a letter to the CFPN calling on Cordray to exempt those institutions from his crushing rules.
Worse than the overregulation that occurred on Cordray’s watch was the gross mismanagement, discrimination, and intimidation that took place at the CFPB.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, 25 percent of female, black, and Asian employees were discriminated against on Cordray’s watch. Recently, some of Cordray former employees filed a class action lawsuit against the agency due to the discrimination they experienced.
Multiple CFPB employees even testified about the culture of discrimination and intimidation that Cordray let flourish, including Senior Enforcement Attorney, Angela Martin, and Quality Assurance Monitor Kevin Williams.
Martin said – “Emotionally I’m devastated forever. The fact that this wasn’t addressed when it happened to me has allowed another trail of victims.” “This was overt discrimination and the Director should apologize.”
Williams said – “I personally witnessed and was the victim of racial discrimination perpetrated by black as well as white managers. The unit was dubbed the ‘plantation,’ because when we started, the majority of black employees were assigned to intake, which was basically data entry.”
That is not where Cordray’s mismanagement ends.
Cordray allowed renovation costs for the CFPB’s rented office building to skyrocket to more than $215 Million. For perspective, the renovation of the Quicken Loans Arena will cost $185 Million.
When asked about the exorbitant cost of his office renovation during a congressional hearing, Cordray replied – “Why does that matter to you?”
If that isn’t a good indication of the value Richard Cordray would place on your tax dollars as Governor, I don’t know what is.
Of course, there’s also the $43.8 million that Cordray’s CFPB funneled to GMMB, the ad agency and political consulting firm that worked on both of Obama’s presidential campaigns. You’re probably wondering if Cordray is now using GMMB for his campaign. He is.
Ohioans deserve a Governor they can trust, but with a record like this, who would trust Richard Cordray?