The Export-Import Bank is a government agency where men and women like Johnny Gutierrez pick winners and losers by lending out taxpayer money, or giving taxpayer-backed loan guarantees or insurance products to U.S. exporters and their foreign buyers.
Yesterday, we learned that Gutierrez, a loan officer, has been indicted on bribery charges. It’s not at all surprising to find bribery going on at a place like Ex-Im, where bureaucrats have wide discretion to give other people’s money to businesses.
Today, at a House hearing, we learned that more indictments may be coming down in Ex-Im-related investigations. Here’s the joint statement by Republican chairmen:
Upon hearing this news Chairmen Hensarling, Chaffetz, Huizenga, and Jordan released the following statement:
“On the heels of news that Johnny Gutierrez was indicted for bribery, it is alarming to hear that even more indictments for fraud related to Ex-Im Bank activities are expected. While this is disturbing enough, the fact that we learned of this only at the end of nearly three hours of testimony, is further evidence of the Bank’s continued and brazen efforts to avoid transparency and accountability. With the Bank’s charter expiring this summer, this adds to the already long list of significant concerns we have over its future viability.”