The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau staffer whose old blog posts stirred controversy over use of racial slurs is set to leave the bureau.
Eric Blankenstein, a Trump political appointee, will leave his position as policy director for the bureau’s office for fair lending advocacy and education, a senior CFPB official confirmed.
Blankenstein previously apologized for blog posts he wrote in 2004 that included the use of the N-word and expressed doubts about the veracity of most reported hate crimes.
“I recognize that many of you had a visceral, negative reaction to reading what I wrote in some of my old blog posts,” Blankenstein wrote in an internal email. “I did too.”
The blog posts were brought to light after Blankenstein began overseeing the bureau’s division that enforces laws against discrimination in financial services. The office was reorganized under former acting Director Mick Mulvaney.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the top Democrat on the banking committee, blasted current CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger for declining to fire Blankenstein.
“Eric Blankenstein should have been fired for his hateful, reprehensible, and disgusting blog posts. Allowing him to resign is a serious moral and managerial failure that sends a signal to consumers that the CFPB will look the other way when it comes to discrimination,” said Brown in a statement. “Director Kraninger should hire someone with a track record of standing up for civil rights and restore all authorities of the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity.”
According to a senior bureau official, Blankenstein will leave the bureau in coming weeks for another opportunity. The official did not provide details as to what that next opportunity would be.
