Michael Capuano did his best Elizabeth Warren impression during the House’s Wells Fargo hearing
CEO John Stumpf clashed with another Massachusetts lawmaker.
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf was back on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
After getting grilled last week by Elizabeth Warren and the Senate’s banking committee, Stumpf appeared before the House Financial Services Committee to answer questions about the fake account scandal, in which 5,300 low-level employees were fired for creating millions of unauthorized customer accounts.
Rep. Michael Capuano began his round of questioning by thanking the maligned CEO—albeit somewhat backhandedly.
“Thank you, Mr. Stumpf,” Capuano said. “I want to thank you particularly for doing something here today that no other person has been able to do in the last four years: You have brought true bipartisanship to Congress. We’re all together on this; we are not happy.”
https://www.facebook.com/RepMichaelCapuano/videos/1096205523767229/
As Capuano referenced, both Democrats and Republicans in both chambers have sharply criticized Stumpf for his high-pressure culture that incentivized the behavior and for the lack of perceived accountability (i.e. resignations) among Wells Fargo’s senior-level management.
The firm announced earlier this week that Stumpf will be docked more than $41 million in pay, though critics like Warren say that only represents a fraction of his overall compensation.
Capuano said Tuesday that Wells Fargo “screwed” its customers across a diverse range of demographics. He also belittled the $185 million in fines the firm paid for the scandal, in comparison to recent 10-figure settlements the firm has paid, and mocked the CEO’s response to the scandal.
“You’re problem is coming,” he said, referring to calls for Stumpf to be criminally prosecuted.
“You think today is tough?” Capuano asked. “It’s coming; when the prosecutors get a hold of you, you’re gonna have a lot of fun.”
Despite financial concessions made by Stumpf and a former Wells Fargo executive, elected officials have criticized the CEO for pushing the responsibility off on low-level employees. During last week’s hearing, Warren said Wells Fargo “squeezed” its employees with aggressive sales quotas and said Stumpf should take “accountability” for the scandal and resign.
On Thursday, Capuano echoed Warren in calling for Stumpf to be held criminally responsible as well.
“In my opinion, you and your entire leadership team are clearly and unequivocally of at least conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to commit identity theft, clearly racketeering … and probably a dozen other crimes.”
Capuano asked Stumpf why he should be treated differently than those who went to jail for robbing his banks.
Stumpf said there was a difference between “being dishonest” and breaking the law, and said he tried to promote a culture of honesty as CEO.
Capuano shot back that the only reason Stumpf was keeping his job was because of his position as CEO and chairman of the company’s board.
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