President-elect Trump selected Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday to serve as secretary of the treasury. Mnuchin was the Trump campaign’s national finance chairman, and the two have run in the same New York circles for decades. But disturbingly, Mnuchin has routinely donated to Democratic politicians.
Mnuchin has a long history on Wall Street, where he earned a sterling reputation and millions of dollars. Mnuchin worked for 17 years at Goldman Sachs, leaving in 2002 to become vice chairman of a longtime friend’s hedge fund, ESL. In 2003, Mnuchin worked briefly for George Soros’ SFM Capital Management before co-founding Dune Capital with other former Goldman Sachs employees.
The selection of Mnuchin should be troubling for constitutional, limited-government conservatives. Not only does he have ties to big-money liberals such as Soros, he and his family have together given millions of dollars to Democratic Party candidates since 1997.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, Mnuchin himself gave tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates, including at least $2,300 to President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and $2,000 to his 2004 Senate campaign.
He also gave $2,300 to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and almost $4,000 to her Senate campaigns. Mnuchin also gave $10,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2004.
Mnuchin’s immediate family members have also been dedicated Democratic Party donors. According to the FEC, immediate family members of Mnuchin (his parents, Robert and Adriana, his brother Alan and his now ex-wife Heather) have given more than $2 million to political campaigns since the late 1990s.
Although some of that money did go to Republicans, including small donations to John McCain, the vast majority of the donations were given to Democrats, including former Democratic Party presidential candidates John Kerry, John Edwards and Howard Dean.
Trump’s pick of Mnuchin raises serious red flags. As head of the Department of the Treasury, Mnuchin would be one of the Trump administration’s most influential economic figures. He’d play a significant role in helping to shape the national government’s financial policies, and he’d also have a lot of influence over money borrowed by the government.
Considering Mnuchin’s close ties to and support for people who have totally rejected fiscal responsibility in favor of extreme government regulations and expansive social programs, it’s fair to wonder why Trump would make such a pick, other than because it seems Mnuchin is a personal friend who helped Trump get elected.
Justin Haskins is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an executive editor at The Heartland Institute. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
