In late July, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray’s plan to run for Ohio governor leaked. Within days, Cordray received a message with an offer to help with his potential 2018 campaign, which he then forwarded to a redacted email address.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, “an individual calling herself Debbie” wrote to Cordray’s government email account after learning about his plan to run in Ohio. Cordray then forwarded the message to another account. Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, claims the email exchange raises questions over Cordray’s handling of a government email address and the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from using government resources for political activities. According to Arnold, “Simply receiving a partisan email and forwarding it to your own personal account is not a violation of the Act. In this case though, we do not know who Cordray forwarded the email to because of the redaction.” She continues: “The fact that the email was about Cordray running for office makes it incumbent on Cordray to explain.”
We’re waiting for an explanation, knowing that Cordray has long overseen a politically biased CFPB. According to Federal Election Commission data, 100 percent of campaign contributions made by the agency’s employees went to Democratic candidates. Even the Obama administration’s Justice Department was more diverse in its workforce’s political preferences.