{"id":1270278,"date":"2022-02-04T03:47:03","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T08:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1270278"},"modified":"2022-02-04T08:52:33","modified_gmt":"2022-02-04T13:52:33","slug":"watch-something-doesnt-smell-right-gop-senator-grills-biden-fed-nominee-about-allegedly-helping-company-get-special-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-something-doesnt-smell-right-gop-senator-grills-biden-fed-nominee-about-allegedly-helping-company-get-special-access\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: \u2018Something Doesn\u2019t Smell Right\u2019: GOP Senator Grills Biden Fed Nominee About Allegedly Helping Company Get Special Access"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwatch-something-doesnt-smell-right-gop-senator-grills-biden-fed-nominee-about-allegedly-helping-company-get-special-access%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1270278&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/pjimage-1-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>On Thursday, Wyoming GOP senator Cynthia Lummis targeted Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee for the top bank supervisory post at the Federal Reserve, for allegedly helping Reserve Trust, whose board she sat on, get special access to the Federal Reserve\u2019s payments system and later receiving $1.5 million from QED Investor when they purchased the 195,000 Reserve Trust shares she got when she joined the board in 2017. After Raskin refused three times to answer whether she called the Federal Reserve on behalf of Reserve Trust after joining its board, Lummis said bluntly, \u201cSomething doesn\u2019t smell right with the way this played out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Questioning Raskin at her nomination hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Lummis began, \u201cI\u2019d like to ask you about Federal Reserve master account access. This is an issue of great interest to Wyoming and my constituents. I asked [Federal Reserve Board] Chairman Powell about it; I asked [Federal Reserve] Governor [Lael] Brainard about it at their nomination hearings; I\u2019ve been stonewalled at the Fed, and so I wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaster accounts are the way banks access the payment system,\u201d Lummis stated. \u201cMany non-banks, including trust companies, have applied and failed to receive a Fed master account. To my knowledge there\u2019s one and only one state charter trust company that has a Fed master account. It\u2019s a start-up based in Colorado formed in 2016 called Reserve Trust. Reserve Trust has repeatedly touted the value of the company\u2019s Fed master account. Their homepage says, \u2018In 2021 one of the company\u2019s investors underscored that Reserve Trust is armed with a master account at the Federal Reserve and direct access to the payment rails.\u2019 The only company in the country that has that, the only fintech [financial technology] company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFintech firms like Reserve Trust have long sought Fed master accounts, which allow companies direct access to the Fed\u2019s payment systems, and to settle transactions with other participants through the central bank,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/02\/03\/gop-senator-grills-biden-federal-reserve-nominee-sarah-bloom-raskin-.html\">CNBC<\/a> explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, a Fed master account gives Reserve Trust an enormous advantage over everybody else, since it appears they\u2019re the only one who has it,\u201d Lummis continued. \u201cAnd you\u2019re very familiar with Reserve Trust because you joined their board in May 2017 just four months after leaving Treasury, right? Right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raskin replied, \u201cWell, thank you for your question. I joined the board of Reserve Trust in 2017 \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lummis pressed, \u201cAnd your Treasury stint came after four years as a Federal Reserve governor, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour years, well, after I left as a Federal Reserve Governor I went to Treasury as a Deputy Secretary,\u201d Raskin answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorrect,\u201d Lummis agreed. \u201cYou went from Federal Reserve governor to Treasury and then to Reserve Trust\u2019s board. And then Reserve Trust had its master account application denied in June 2017, but one year later the Fed granted it a master account in 2018. It\u2019s a mystery to me how dozens of fintech companies have tried unsuccessfully and how Wyoming\u2019s SPDI [Special Purpose Depository Institution] charter has been under review for well over a year; two and a half years at the Fed consulting with them about how to make this qualified. How did Reserve Trust get there so quickly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Lummis asked pointedly, \u201cAfter Reserve Trust had their application denied did you communicate with the Federal Reserve about Reserve Trust\u2019s application?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raskin, smirking and avoiding the question, \u201cSo, Senator, I was on the board of Reserve Trust on the board of directors from 2017 till 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lummis repeated, \u201cAnd they got their master account in 2018. So did you call or communicate with the Federal Reserve about Reserve Trust\u2019s application?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raskin huffed as she evaded the question again, \u201cWell, certainly if you are suggesting anything improper I want to make very clear that I have had, first of all, had the honor to serve in various pubic capacities and each time I left I have been very mindful of the rules regarding departure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s my understanding you did call the Kansas City Fed in August of 2017 regarding Reserve Trust\u2019s master account application,\u201d Lummis asserted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Senate Republican aide later told CNBC that Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican and the ranking member of the committee, sent a letter to the Kansas City Fed in early February requesting information about Raskin\u2019s purported calls to the regional Fed bank in 2017. The aide added that a Fed official replied to Toomey and confirmed that Raskin did indeed place a phone call to the Kansas City Fed on behalf of Reserve Trust\u2019s master account application,\u201d CNBC noted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I have significant questions about your involvement in Reserve Trust\u2019s efforts to obtain a master account,\u201d Lummis continued. \u201cSo, Reserve Trust is denied; you go on their board, then they get a master account.\u201d She asked for a third time, \u201cDid you communicate with the board of governors about Reserve Trust\u2019s application?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raskin dodged a third time: \u201cSo I can assure you that I have have been very focused \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lummis asked, \u201cWell, who did you communicate with?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Raskin, laughing, \u201cFirst of all, I want to be very clear here. The Federal Reserve has approved plenty of master accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut not in fintech,\u201dLummis fired. \u201cYou resigned from Reserve Trust in August of 2019, correct?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAugust 2019 I left the board of Reserve Trust,\u201d Raskin agreed.<\/p>\n<p>Lummis said, \u201cCorrect. Now, do you know Amias Gerety?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes. I do know Amias Gerety,\u201d Raskin admitted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile you were number two at Treasury, Mr. Gerety was the acting assistant secretary for financial institutions and he reported to you, right?\u201d Lummis pressed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did not report directly to me, but yes, he was at Treasury when I was there,\u201d Raskin acknowledged.<\/p>\n<p>Lummis stated, \u201cAnd he\u2019s also a partner at QED Investor, which is now the controlling owner of Reserve Trust. So in 2020, QED Investor purchased the 195,000 Reserve Trust shares you received when you joined the board in 2017. And they purchased your shares for almost 1.5 million dollars. Even in this town that\u2019s a lot of money for being on a company\u2019s board of director for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lummis summed up:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>So let me recap: You leave Treasury; you serve on the board of Reserve Trust for two years; their first application for a master account is denied but after the denial you called the Federal Reserve and Reserve Trust receives a Fed master account \u2014 the only state chartered trust company in the country to get one. And you walk away with a million and a half dollars. Something doesn\u2019t smell right with the way this played out.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>My state\u2019s companies, my constituents have been stonewalled, have been slow-walked and have not been able to get approval even though they\u2019ve been working with the Fed for two and a half years on our very specific guidelines for getting master accounts. Now, Mr. Chairman, I don\u2019t know the details here because the Fed hasn\u2019t provided any documents we\u2019ve asked about Reserve Trust\u2019s master accounts, but I think this requires additional scrutiny by the committee and I look forward to receiving it.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n[embedded content]\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday, Wyoming GOP senator Cynthia Lummis targeted Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee for the top bank supervisory post at the Federal Reserve, for allegedly helping Reserve Trust, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1270278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1270278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1270278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1270278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1270278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1270278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1270278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}