Swamp water cocktail
by digby
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anyone anywhere, much less the man who supposedly runs the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, say it quite this blatantly before. But here is the White House Budget chief and director of the CFPB openly soliciting bribes:
Mick Mulvaney, interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told banking executives Tuesday that as a South Carolina congressman he always met with constituents. But he never met with out-of-town lobbyists, he said, unless they gave him campaign money — explaining why the bankers should push their agenda on Capitol Hill.
“We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress,” said Mulvaney, who was a leading conservative in the House until President Trump tapped him as his budget director, a job he still holds. “If you were a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you. If you were a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.”
Still, he said, the priority was given to local constituents. “If you came from back home and sat in my lobby, I talk to you without exception, regardless of the financial contributions,” Mulvaney said in his address to the American Bankers Association, according to a transcript provided by the CFPB.
It’s nice that he talked to his constituents. That makes it all ok:
Asked about the comments, John Czwartacki, a spokesman for Mr. Mulvaney, said: “He was making the point that hearing from people back home is vital to our democratic process and the most important thing our representatives can do. It’s more important than lobbyists and it’s more important than money.”
I don’t know why I’m surprised. Every oast trump official is corrupt. It goes without saying.
He went before a bankers group and told them to give him money if they wanted him to do their bidding. It couldn’t be more clear. That he also says congressmen listen to their constituents doesn’t change that.
Recall how our president described this process:
“As a businessman and a very substantial donor to very important people, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal in 2015. “As a businessman, I need that.”
He was asked about that quote during a GOP primary debate. “You better believe it,” Trump replied. “I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them. They are there for me.”
I think people mistakenly thought that when he said he was going to drain the swamp he meant that he would put a stop to this practice. That’s not the case. He meant that he would stop the Democratic agenda, political correctness, giving money to black people, letting Mexicans and Muslims in the country. That’s certainly what his followers thought. They voted for him largely because of his corruption not in spite of it. As he put it himself when challenged about not paying any taxes: “that makes me smart.”
This is what they like about these guys. They are rich aren’t they?
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