CFPB investigates controversial writings of Trump appointee

NEW YORK – The nation’s financial watchdog has opened a formal investigation into writings and comments by Eric Blankenstein, a Republican appointee overseeing the agency’s anti-discrimination efforts, which he alleged that most hate crimes were fake and argued that using racial epithets did not mean a person was racist.

Mick Mulvaney, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, asked the Federal Reserve’s Inspector General Office this week to investigate the writings.

The CFPB does not have its own inspector general’s office, and uses the Fed’s inspectors when necessary.

Blankenstein is one of a handful of political appointees that joined the CFPB after Mulvaney took over the bureau roughly a year ago.