Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez humiliated herself yesterday after her questioning of Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan backfired during a House Financial Services Committee hearing.
The hearing was titled, “Holding Megabanks Accountable: An Examination of Wells Fargo’s Pattern of Consumer Abuses,” and Ocasio-Cortez seized the moment to advance her own agenda, asking questions about ICE and oil pipelines.
Ryan Saavedra of the Daily Wire detailed the embarrassing exchange:
“Mr. Sloan, why was the bank involved in the caging of children?” the congresswoman asked.
I don’t know how to answer that question because we weren’t,” Sloan responded.
“Uh, so in finan–, you’ve, you were financing, involved in debt financing in CoreCivic and GEO group, correct?” Ocasio-Cortez responded.
“For a period of time, we were involved in financing one of the firms, we are not anymore,” Sloan responded. “I’m not familiar with the specific assertion you are making, but we weren’t directly involved in that.”
**LISTEN: Dan discusses the stunning revelations in the Lisa Page transcripts**
Ocasio-Cortez then switched topics to the Dakota Access Pipeline and asked Sloan if Wells Fargo should be held responsible “for the damages incurred by climate change due to the financing of fossil fuels and these projects.”
When Sloan told the congresswoman he wouldn’t know how those costs could be calculated, she said, “Say from spills, or when we have to reinvest in infrastructure building sea walls from the erosion of, um, from the erosion of infrastructure or cleanups, wildfires, etc….”
“Related to that pipeline?” Sloan replied. “I’m not aware that there’s been any of what you’ve described that’s occurred that’s related to that pipeline.”
Speaking over Sloan, she asked, “How about, uh, the clean ups from the leaks of the Dakota Access pipeline?”
“I’m not aware of the leaks associated with the Dakota Access pipeline that you’re describing,” Sloan responded.
“So, hypothetically, if there was a leak from the Dakota Access pipeline, why shouldn’t Wells Fargo pay for the clean up of it since it paid for the construction of the pipeline itself?”
“Because we don’t operate the pipeline, we provide financing to the company that’s operating the pipeline…” Sloan answered.
Watch the cringeworthy exchange below:
Complete exchange between @RepAOC @AOC and @WellsFargo CEO Timothy Sloan
AOC: "Why was the bank involved in the caging of children and financing the caging of children to begin with?"
SLOAN: "I don't know how to answer that question because we weren't." pic.twitter.com/VJJOcFSn7v
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 12, 2019
For the full report, click HERE.
