As was widely expected, the main event during today’s John Stumpf hearing before the Senate Banking Committee was the moments when anti-bank crusader, Elizabeth Warren would get to the mic. She did not hold back, and immediately launched into a full-blown attack on the one topic Americans find most disturbing: the utter lack of accountability, despite Stumpf’s repeaeted protestations to the contrary.
“Since this massive year’s long scam came to light you have said ‘I am accountable’, but what have you done to hold yourself accountable? Have you resigned? Have you returned one nickel of the money you earned while this scandal was going on?” After Stumpf failed to respond, Warren replied in his stead: “I will take that as a no.”
When Stumpf confirmed that he has not fired a single senior executives, Warren slammed what he called “gutless leadership.”
.@elizabethforma asks Wells Fargo CEO whether he has resigned or returned money made “while this scam was going on” https://t.co/CaqJL2Cy8u
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 20, 2016
Continuing the angry questioning, Warren said that Wells’ cross-selling was designed just to “pump up the stock of Wells Fargo” and increase the value of Stumpf’s stock-based compensation, and concluded by slamming Stumpf, saying he should return the money he made during the “scam” and that he should then “resign.”
“You should resign, you should give back the money you made while this scam was going on, and you should be criminally investigated by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. This just isn’t right…. The only way Wall Street will change is if executives face jail time when they preside over massive frauds.”
Sen. Warren blasts $WFC CEO: “You should resign…and you should be criminally investigated…” pic.twitter.com/uSB5UB6H6s
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) September 20, 2016
It was not immediately clear if Warren Buffett, Wells Fargo’s largest investor and one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent, not to mention wealthiest supporters, had any comment on this theatrical grilling; however the fact that Buffett has so far failed to make any comment on the Wells fiasco has led many to speculate that while today’s latest kangaroo court makes for great populist TV, it will once again lead to absolutely no changes in the corporate culture of US banks, especially since Warren concluded by saying that “we need tough prosecutors who have the courage to go after people at the top.“
Clearly this excludes the current, Bill Clinton-appointed head of the Department of Justice, Loretta Lynch.
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