ICYMI: American Banker: “Former CFPB Official Criticized For Blog Posts Joins Ginnie Mae”
Allied Progress and American Oversight Went To Court In March Seeking CFPB Records On New HUD Appointee Eric Blankenstein
Legal Complaint Available Here (PDF)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, American Banker reported that Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) hired former CFPB Fair Lending Division Chief Eric Blankenstein despite his record of racist, offensive writings.
Reaction from Derek Martin, director of consumer watchdog group Allied Progress: “It was bad enough the Trump CFPB kept Mr. Blankenstein employed for months after his racist writings came to light, ironically to oversee their anti-discrimination efforts. But what’s the Trump HUD’s excuse for hiring him after knowing full well what kind of character they were dealing with? What a message this sends: racism won’t just be tolerated in this administration, it’ll lead to more opportunities.”
Background:
- September 2018: Washington Post reports on Blankenstein’s racists posts on, including questioning whether hate crimes were even real.
- September 2018: Washington Post reports on “rebellion” underway at CFPB against Blankenstein.
- September 2018: American Banker reports that “dissent” was spreading at the CFPB over Blankenstein’s blog posts.
- October 2018: New York Times reports on additional Blankenstein postings from 2016, questioning whether birther conspiracy theory was racist at all.
- March 2019: Allied Progress, represented by American Oversight, sues CFPB for records relating to Blankenstein issue.
- March 2019: CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger, given opportunity to condemn her subordinate’s racist remarks, refuses. Only comment on his remarks: “the words here are not words I would use.”
- May 2019: Blankenstein’s resignation from CFPB announced.
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