Political Quotes

“Mr. President, Scott Pruitt, Mike Flynn, Betsy DeVos-- there is a pattern here. This administration keeps choosing people who seem like the wrong fit to run their agency, and now we are about to add Jay Clayton to the list. He is different in a lot of ways. I met with him. He is a good person. He is a sensible person desiring to be a public servant, and he is a very smart lawyer. But he is not the right candidate to lead the SEC because it is on the frontlines of making sure that Wall Street follows the rules. And that is the No. 1 issue here because Mr. Clayton has too many ties to the industry that he would be in charge of overseeing. Wall Street is full of his friends and business contacts, and there is nothing wrong with that, generally. We need lawyers in the securities industry. We need honorable people who help companies to do an IPO, but that doesn't mean that individual is appropriate to be in charge of the SEC and in charge of reining in Wall Street. That causes the problem. I do not question Mr. Clayton's integrity. I have no doubt that he is a good person. But how can we say that the best person to hold Wall Street in check is someone with strong ties to the big banks, someone who has built his career there, who very well may go back to his old law firm in a few years? I talked with Mr. Clayton at his confirmation hearing about whether he would go back to Wall Street after his time at the SEC ended, and he said he couldn't rule it out.…”