The House Financial Services Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will be holding a hearing tomorrow entitled “Allegations of Discrimination and Retaliation within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Part Three.” We have blogged about the Subcommittee’s two previous hearings on this issue.
The Subcommittee subpoenaed two CFPB witnesses to testify before the hearing:
- Ali Naraghi, Examiner, Southeast Region, Division of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending
- Kevin Williams, former Quality Monitor, Office of Consumer Response
Mr. Naraghi is expected to describe the alleged discrimination and retaliation he experienced at the CFPB, and testify about deficiencies in the bank examination process. Mr. Williams is expected to testify about the culture of discrimination and retaliation within the Office of Consumer Response, in addition to the mismanagement and inexperience of leaders within that office.
There has already been some controversy around tomorrow’s hearing. Ms. Liza Strong, a labor and employee relations official at the CFPB who testified at the Subcommittee’s second hearing in May, is reported to have asked the Subcommittee’s leaders to strike a forthcoming opening statement from Mr. Naraghi about his alleged experiences with discrimination and retaliation. Ms. Strong’s attorney reportedly claimed that the subcommittee “is being used and abused for the purpose of carrying out a vendetta” against Ms. Strong, evidenced by the fact that the statement was leaked to the press. A committee spokesperson is reported to have said that panel would not strike Mr. Naraghi’s opening remarks.