The concern expressed to WND by Trump insiders is that Mnuchin’s Wall Street-insider résumé could undermine attacks Trump might make that Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, accepted millions of dollars from Wall Street firms for speeches.
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Mnuchin said the campaign plans to build “a world-class finance organization”.
In one debate, Donald Trump claimed executives at Goldman Sachs had control over not only Ted Cruz, whose wife also works for the bank, but Hillary Clinton. Variety pegged his fortune past year as being worth $46 million.
Trump has said hedge fund managers get away with “murder” under the current tax code and was critical of a loan former rival Texas Sen.
But his financial background hasn’t been without controversy. A year later, Mnuchin invested in Relativity Media and joined Ryan Kavanaugh’s company as non-executive co chairman, but left just before Relativity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last summer. “And disgruntled Relativity investors privately are questioning how a bank Mnuchin once headed – OneWest Bank of Pasadena – was allowed by Relativity to drain $50 million from the studio just weeks prior to the July 30 insolvency filing”.
‘This is an obvious case of preference, ‘ an attorney for one creditor told Variety.
A review of Mnuchin’s political donation history shows that he has made three times more donations to Democratic politicians than Republicans between 1997 and 2008.
He also contributed to the senatorial and presidential campaigns of Barack Obama. Charles Schumer of NY, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Trump himself has been forced to defend his past campaign contributions to Democrats this cycle, arguing that there are few alternatives to Democrats in NY.
Yet he’s also beginning to take a more traditional route for his likely battle with Hillary Clinton, a Democratic fundraising powerhouse.
“Steven is a professional at the highest level with an extensive and very successful financial background”, Trump said. Mnuchin “brings unprecedented experience and expertise” to the fundraising operation, the campaign said.
Donald Trump is taking his first steps toward broadening his primary insurgency into a full-fledged general election campaign, moving to unite a fractured Republican Party behind him and begin raising the massive amounts of money needed for a national race.
Mnuchin’s appointment, along with a statement from the Trump campaign Thursday, indicated the real estate billionaire will raise money for the general election campaign after largely self-funding his primary effort. He said in a news release Thursday announcing Mnuchin that he’d “likewise be putting up substantial money toward the general election”.
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Trump himself was criticized throughout the primary for donating to Democratic politicians in the past.
