Rep. Katie Porter has had it with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's bullsh*t about why he is refusing to block REQUIRED disclosure of the recipients of COVID stimulus funds. To be clear, this was REQUIRED and was clearly outlined in the legislation. The Trump Administration AGREED to it. Now they have changed their mind.
Here was a bit of her interview with Chris Hayes on MSNBC:
PORTER: Yeah, you sound like one of my students who’s struggling his way towards an F. No, at least five reasons why the argument the secretary made is incorrect.
First, the traditional SBA loan already have to be disclosed. Two, the PPP application itself, the application small business owners filled out, clearly stated that it would be disclosed, the amount of the loan, terms of the loans, all of these things. Borrowers here have no expectation of privacy. Third, the size of the PPP program is unprecedented. This is a tremendous amount of expenditure. This is the largest small business loan in our government’s history. Fourth, there are already numerous examples of abuse of the PPP program. We saw it with requests from Ruth’s Chris [Steakhouse] and others. Then, the PPP limitation has been plagued by inequities. Different states not given the same amount of resources, minority-owned businesses, smallest, most vulnerable businesses not getting help.
This is why — these five reasons debunk the Secretary of the Treasury’s argument, and why Senator Kamala Harris and I are calling on the Treasury to disclose this information.
I suspect we will never know the true depths of the corruption of this administration until they leave office, and even then, we will be shocked. No doubt, much of the money went to Trump's business, Trump's friends and his political donors. Very little will have made it to the average person. But that was how it was designed. Mnuchin and Trump pulled a fast one on the American people...and they are utterly unrepentant. In fact, I'll bet they are proud of it.
