Both Nominees Are Being Accused of Lying to Senate
Democratic Senators are boycotting committee votes of two of President Donald Trump’s top nominees, both of whom have drawn sharp criticism over their financial dealings, and are accused of not being wholly truthful in their testimonies.
Republican Rep. Tom Price, a far right wing conservative who until recently chaired the House Budget Committee, has been caught buying stocks in companies just days before he has advanced or supported legislation that would specifically financially benefit those corporations. He also lied to a Senate committee holding a hearing on his nomination.
Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Rhode Island, says Congressman Price “outright lied to our committee,” according to CNN.
The Wall Street Journal on Monday, in a surprising development, reported that “Rep. Tom Price got a privileged offer to buy a biomedical stock at a discount.” Calling the news “truly alarming,” Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said Price “misled the congress and he misled the American people.”
“This is contrary to congressional testimony he gave,” Wyden said. “Congressman insisted he didn’t get special access to a special deal.”
On Monday, The Columbus Dispatch reported that Trump’s Finance nominee Steven Mnuchin “was untruthful with the Senate during the confirmation process.” And The Intercept, also on Monday, reported Mnuchin “is lying” and “doubled down on his lie to the Senate Finance Committee, again claiming in amended answers for the record that OneWest Bank never robo-signed foreclosure documents, despite copious evidence that they did.”
By boycotting the committee votes Democrats have denied Republicans a quorum, thus temporarily stopping both nominations from moving forward.
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