The former official, now senior counsel at HUD, resigned from the CFPB last year after revelations that he had made racially charged comments
Senate Democrats are demanding answers over new revelations about a Housing and Urban Development official who came under fire for racially charged comments.
Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are demanding the removal of Eric Blankenstein – currently senior counsel at HUD – who until last year served as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s fair lending office. Blankenstein left the CFPB last year after revelations that he had used a racial slur and suggested that most hate crimes were hoaxes in a blog – only to take a job with HUD a month later.
Now a report by the CFPB’s inspector general says that Blankenstein, a political appointee, may have abused his authority at the CFPB by improperly pressuring a subordinate to provide a statement supporting him during the controversy, according to a report by American Banker. The report states that Blankenstein “may have abused his authority” by making the request.
In a letter to the agencies, Warren and Brown demanded that HUD fire Blankenstein, for the CFPB to dismiss all political appointees, and for the inspector general to investigate the gutting of the Office of Fair Lending’s enforcement powers under former Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, American Banker reported.
In a letter to HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Brown and Warren also questioned why Blankenstein was allowed to resign from the CFPB after the scandal and move directly to another government job.
“Continuing to employ Mr. Blankenstein at a high-level position at HUD despite the troubling findings and conclusions of the inspector general’s report would send a disturbing message,” they wrote.
