Author of Senate Bank Deregulation Giveaway Tied to Swampy Trump Cabinet Scandal
Trump Cabinet Official Is Embroiled in Scandal After It Was Revealed He Rented a House “Well Below” Market Rate from a D.C. Lobbyist – Sen. Crapo (R-ID) Threw MONTHLY Fundraisers in the Same House. The Homeowner Lobbied on Behalf of Payday Lenders.
When asked about the fundraisers, Crapo’s team did not respond.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) sponsored the Senate’s giant deregulation giveaway to big banks which rolls back important consumer and market protections put in place following the 2008 economic collapse. It is now being reported that Crapo held monthly fundraisers in a house owned by a controversial D.C. lobbyist who worked on behalf of the payday lending industry among others. The same lobbyist is embroiled in a growing scandal after it was discovered he had rented part of the house at “relatively small nightly sums” to Trump cabinet official Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). When asked about the monthly fundraisers, Crapo’s leadership PAC did not respond.
“Sen. Crapo’s lips are sealed about the swampy, monthly fundraisers he held in a house owned by a controversial D.C. payday lobbyist who worked on issues closely tied to Crapo’s committee and the Senate’s giant deregulation giveaway to big banks. His silence is deafening but not surprising,” said Karl Frisch, executive director of the consumer watchdog organization Allied Progress.
He continued, “His attempt to gut consumer and market protections put in place after the 2008 economic collapse is little more than payback to the Wall Street special interests who have showered him with $3.1 million in campaign cash over the years – some of that was undoubtedly raised in the home of this scandalous D.C. lobbyist. This is perhaps the clearest sign yet that Crapo’s big bank deregulation giveaway legislation is rotten to its core.”
The owner of the house, J. Steven Hart, was a lobbyist for Cash America International Inc. and lobbied Congress on payday issues from 2010-2012. Crapo has received at least $133,700 in campaign contributions from the payday lending industry.
Additional Background:
- EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt rented a house “well below” market rate from J. Steven Hart, a major D.C. lobbyist. While Pruitt was living there, members of Congress threw fundraisers in the floor below where Pruitt was living, and Sen. Crapo “hosted what [appear] to be monthly luncheons.” When asked about these fundraisers, Crapo’s leadership PAC did not respond. [Sam Stein and Lachlan Markay, “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s Lobbyist-Owned Pad Was GOP Fundraising Hub,” The Daily Beast, 04/02/18.]
- Hart is the Chairman and CEO of Williams and Jensen PLLC. His firm lobbied the CFPB on “payday lending regulation and databases” for Veritec Solutions, LLC, every quarter in 2017. They reported $80,000 in lobbying income for Veritec. [J. Steven Hart, Williams and Jensen, accessed 04/03/18; Williams and Jensen PLLC First Quarter Report, United States Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Database, accessed 04/03/18; Williams and Jensen PLLC Second Quarter Report, United States Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Database, accessed 04/03/18; Williams and Jensen PLLC Third Quarter Report, United States Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Database, accessed 04/03/18; Williams and Jensen PLLC Fourth Quarter Report, United States Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Database, accessed 04/03/18.]
- Hart was a lobbyist for Cash America International Inc. and lobbied Congress on payday issues from 2010 through the fourth quarter of 2012. [Search for J. Steven Hart, United States Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Database, accessed 04/03/18]
- Crapo received at least $3,090,691 in campaign contributions from big banks and other financial industries throughout his career. [Sen. Mike Crapo, Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 04/03/18]
- Crapo took at least $133,700 in campaign contributions from the payday lending industry throughout his career. [Payday Lenders, Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 04/03/18]
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