CREW calls for investigation into Mick Mulvaney’s misreported debt

CREW filed a complaint against the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Mick Mulvaney requesting an investigation to determine whether he knowingly misled the Senate Budget Committee during his confirmation process and failed to pay  his company’s debts.

During his January 2017 confirmation hearings, Mulvaney asserted to the Senate that the pending foreclosure of one of his investments was “uncontested.” This turned out not to be the case. Fonville & Co., a lender in the investment, filed a claim in the foreclosure proceeding seeking $2.565 million for breach of contract three days before Mulvaney would be confirmed. Mulvaney failed to update his nomination papers to the Senate following this development.

As the head of the OMB and Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Mulvaney is subject to the ethical obligations that all cabinet members are, including to “satisfy in good faith their obligations as citizens, including all just financial obligations.” Mulvaney should be investigated for appearing to avoid responsibility to pay off his company’s debt and for misleading the Senate.

Given that the Mulvaney oversees aspects of the federal government’s budget, transparency in his personal financial dealings is in the public interest, especially when there is reason to believe that Mulvaney went to great lengths to avoid accountability.