Baldwin, Warren Seek Information On Goldman Sachs’ Role In and Influence over Trump Administration Economic Policies

WAHSINGTON, D.C. – United States Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) today sent a letter to Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, calling on him to disclose the extent to which Goldman employees were involved in the drafting of two recent Executive Orders that will directly benefit the company. In addition, the Senators asked Mr. Blankfein to fully disclose any lobbying related to these executive orders and detail the profits Goldman Sachs expects to gain as these orders take effect.

The request follows another letter sent last week to incoming NEC Director and former Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn, who received nearly $300 million from Goldman as he left the company to join the Trump Administration.

“The executive orders released by President Trump on Friday last week raise our concerns about the degree to which Mr. Cohn’s advice to President Trump is good for Wall Street, but bad for Americans,” the Senators wrote. “Mr. Trump released two executive orders with Mr. Cohn at his side, both from the Wall Street wish list: one promised to roll back Dodd-Frank rules put in place after the 2008 Financial Crisis, and another put in place a process that could eliminate new requirements that investment advisers act in their clients’ best interests.”

The letter continues, “Goldman Sachs would be a major beneficiary of these efforts to deregulate the financial industry; the company’s stock rose by almost 5%, increasing your company’s market capitalization by $4.1 billion the day of President Trump’s announcement.”

The Senators’ letter requests all communication between employees of Goldman Sachs and Mr. Cohn related to the executive orders. The letter also requests all communication between Goldman Sachs and other high level Administration staffers – including Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman partner; Jay Clayton, the nominee for SEC Chair and lawyer for Goldman Sachs; and chief strategist Steve Bannon, a former Goldman banker.

Baldwin and Warren also asked that Goldman Sachs provide information on the profits it expects to gain as a direct result of the two Executive Orders and asked the company for information on lobbying efforts in support of these policies.

A copy of the letter is available here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.