Cryptocurrency: Biden Tries Appointing Another Corrupt Fed Sarah Bloom Raskin

[grarpamp]

Recall Biden's utterly failed corrupt attempt at appointing
agent Saule Omarova... now another in Biden's Democrat
string of corruption...


Senate Republicans Move To Delay Vote On Biden's Fed Vice-Chair Nominee

Following the confirmed reports that President Biden's Fed Vice-Chair
nominee helped an obscure fintech firm obtain an "unusual" degree of
access to the Fed's payment system, successfully lobbying the Kansas
City Fed in 2018, Republicans are moving to delay the vote on Sarah
Bloom Raskin, saying they "need answers".

After initially denying Reserve Trust's request for a master account,
the Kansas City Fed approved the company's second request for an
account in 2018 after Raskin called and lobbied for them with Quarles.

Bloom Raskin has been facetious about her work for Reserve Trust: Sen.
Cynthia Lummis asked Raskin several times whether she had lobbied on
behalf of Reserve Trust, but Raskin repeatedly refused to answer that
question during her public confirmation hearing.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he opposed putting
Raskin in a job “with major unilateral power” and urged Biden to find
a “better, more mainstream” nominee. McConnell said Raskin has argued
openly that unelected Fed governors can declare an ideological war
against fossil fuels.

“Fed governors are supposed to be neutral regulators,” he said on the
Senate floor.

Senator Pat Toomey's office released the following statement on not
proceeding with the Senate Banking Committee's vote in opposition to
Sarah Bloom Raskin.

    “Last week, I told Chairman Brown that Republican Committee
members would agree to proceed with a markup on all outstanding
nominations except that of Sarah Bloom Raskin. Today, Chairman Brown
may choose not to allow votes on the five nominees pending before the
committee and for whom he could have advanced the process.

    “Ms. Raskin’s repeated and forceful advocacy for having the
Federal Reserve allocate capital and choke off credit to disfavored
industries is alone disqualifying and reason enough to vote against
her.

    "But whether to proceed with a vote today is a separate question.

    “Important questions about Ms. Raskin's use of the ‘revolving
door' remain unanswered largely because of her repeated
disingenuousness with the Committee, from her sloppy questionnaire, to
an evasive conversation with Committee staff, to her refusal to answer
questions from Senator Lummis at her nomination hearing, and her
non-answers in written follow-up questions to the hearing.

    "On 36 questions for the record, for example, Ms. Raskin claimed
she either did ‘not recall' or was ‘unaware'. Her repeated
forgetfulness defies credulity.

    “All senators—not just Banking Republicans—deserve straightforward
and honest answers from Ms. Raskin before having to cast a vote on her
nomination. Her fitness to serve, her judgment, and her probity are of
utmost importance because Ms. Raskin is being considered for a 10-year
term at the nation's independent central bank and foremost financial
regulator. This isn't a garden-variety political appointment.

    “Committee Republicans aren't seeking to delay her vote. We're
seeking answers. Until basic questions have been adequately addressed,
I do not think the Committee should proceed with a vote on Ms.
Raskin."

Denying a quorum also would delay confirmation votes on Biden’s other
nominees, including Jerome Powell for another term as chair, Lael
Brainard as vice chair and Philip Jefferson and Lisa Cook as Fed
governors, but Bloomberg reports that, according to two people
familiar with the discussions, Republicans hope Democrats will agree
to set aside Raskin’s confirmation vote and move forward with the
other nominees for now.



     Biden Fed Vice Chair Nominee Successfully Lobbied For Former Employer

   Sen. Pat Toomey has accused Sara Bloom Raskin, President Biden's nominee
   to replace Randall Quarles as the Fed's Vice Chair for Supervision, of
   helping an obscure fintech firm obtain an "unusual" degree of access to
   the Fed's payment system. Now, CNBC has corroborated Toomey's suspicions
   by confirming that Raskin did indeed lobby Kansas City Fed President
   Esther George in 2017.

   Raskin placed the call to George with the intent to lobby for her
   employer, a small fintech firm called Reserve Trust, to receive a Fed
   "master account". The lobbying occurred during 2017, when Raskin had left
   her role as the Treasury Department's deputy secretary. Prior to her
   Treasury work, she spent more than three years at the Fed as one of its
   governors.

   [IMG]

   After initially denying RT's request for a master account, the Kansas City
   Fed approved the company's second request for an account in 2018 after
   Raskin called and lobbied for them with Quarles.

   Earlier this week during Raskin's confirmation hearing before the Senate,
   Toomey blased Raskin with questions about her relationship with Reserve
   Trust. Specifically, Toomey asked Raskin to turn over documents and to
   answer a series of detailed questions regarding her work for Reserve
   Trust, including what actions she took to help it obtain a Fed master
   account and any communications between Raskin and the Kansas City Fed or
   the Fed regarding Reserve Trust’s application.

   In a letter sent to the Kansas City Fed, Toomey claimed that George had
   told him about the call that Raskin had made in 2017.

     "On the evening of February 2, 2022, you and your staff spoke with my
     staff," Toomey told George in his letter.

     "On that you call, you revealed that Ms. Raskin had, in fact, personally
     called you about Reserve Trust’s master account application after it
     had been denied."

     The letter from Toomey, the ranking member on the Senate Banking
     Committee, came more than a week after Raskin was grilled by Senate
     Republicans during her confirmation hearing to become the next Fed vice
     chair for supervision, replacing Randal Quarles.

   Bloom Raskin has been facetious about her work for Reserve Trust: Sen.
   Cynthia Lummis asked Raskin several times whether she had lobbied on
   behalf of Reserve Trust, but Raskin repeatedly refused to answer that
   question during her public confirmation hearing.

   Later, She suggested to Toomey that she didn't recall making any outreach
   on behalf of Reserve Trust to help it secure approval.

   Raskin received equity in Reserve Trust when she joined its board, but
   sold her financial stake upon her 2019 departure from the company for
   about $1.5 million.

   To this day, Reserve Trust’s master account remains the company’s
   single greatest asset to potential customers, and potential acquirers. The
   company brags about this access on its website in a prominent spot.

     "Reserve Trust is the first fintech trust company with a Federal Reserve
     master account," reads the homepage for ReserveTrust.com. "We provide
     payments services that financial institutions and fintechs have
     previously only been able to obtain from correspondent and sponsor
     banks."

   The White House has doubled down on its support for Raskin while insisting
   that she has been ethically beyond reproach.

     "Sarah Bloom Raskin has always taken her ethical obligations very
     seriously during and after her public service," the White House told
     CNBC on Feb. 3.

   But at the time Raskin called the Kansas City Fed to lobby for her new
   employer, she was a freshly retired top government official. There were no
   suggestions that Raskin's actions were illegal - but rather an example of
   the "revolving door" between corporate interests and politics. On
   Wednesday, Raskin and two other people nominated by Biden to Fed governor
   posts - Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson - promised "not to seek any
   employment or compensation" from a financial services company after they
   leave the Federal Reserve.