Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh was peppered with questions about failing to disclose all of his financial holdings — valued at over $100 million — and his ties to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, but based on his responses, it sounds like Warsh is not being transparent, which should be a requirement for anyone who could soon be head of the nation’s central bank.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) began by asking Warsh about his finances.
“The Fed has been plagued by deeply disturbing ethics scandals in recent years involving at least six Fed officials, so it’s critical that the next chair have no financial conflicts – none,” Warren said. “You have more than $100 million in investments that you have refused to disclose to ethics officials and to the public, so let me ask, do the Juggernaut fund or the TSDFS LLC invest in any companies affiliated with President Trump or his family, companies that have facilitated money laundering, Chinese-controlled companies, or financing vehicles established by Jeffrey Epstein?”
Warsh conceded that ethics scandals undermine the Fed’s credibility, but his reply wasn’t specific enough for Warren.
“Answer my question, please,” she pressed. “I ask, you have $100 million in undisclosed assets, and what I’m asking is, are any of those with this outfit that invests in us companies affiliated with President Trump or his family, companies that have facilitated money laundering, Chinese-controlled companies, or financing vehicles set up by Jeffrey Epstein? It’s a yes-or-no question.”
Warsh said that he has worked closely with the Office of Government Ethics to sell off his financial holdings.
“Mr. Warsh, are you refusing to tell us of your investments, for example, in vehicles set up to advance Jeffrey Epstein?” Warren asked. “Is that what you’re telling us? You just won’t tell us.”
The nominee continued to hem and haw, but never addressed the query put to him by the senator.
If someone who is trying to become the most powerful banker in the world isn’t willing to answer questions posed to him by senators, why in the hell should he be confirmed?
Here’s video of the exchange between Warren and Warsh:
