NPR Reports Mulvaney Was Involved in Decision to Dismiss Payday Lending Case Despite Earlier CFPB Claims That He Wasn’t

The report is here. This looks bad. This is the Golden Valley case in which the lender charged up to 950%. Here's an excerpt: 

Mulvaney declined requests for an interview. In an email, his press representative first said the decision to drop the Golden Valley lawsuit was made by "professional career staff" and not Mulvaney.

But several CFPB staffers that NPR spoke to say that's not true. The staffers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, say Mulvaney decided to drop the lawsuit even though the entire career enforcement staff wanted to press ahead with it.

After repeated questioning from NPR, Mulvaney's press person acknowledged that Mulvaney was indeed involved in the decision to drop the lawsuit.

* * * 

Mulvaney hasn't officially offered details about why the case was dropped. Meanwhile, staffers at the bureau say they are worried Mulvaney will block more of their efforts to go after shady financial firms. He's reviewing numerous ongoing lawsuits and investigations.

The piece also discusses some individuals who borrowed from Golden Valley and includes quotes from my co-author, Chris Peterson of Utah and the CFA.

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