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Waters Claims Mnuchin 'Absolutely' Stonewalled Her During Hearing

July 30, 2017

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) told MSNBC host Joy Reid over the weekend that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin "absolutely"  stonewalled her during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Thursday.

Reid began the segment with a chummy exchange with Waters, saying it was amazing that Waters' "reclaiming my time" line from the hearing took over the internet and that she would give the congresswoman all the time she needed.

"I can't believe it. I cannot believe it that we went viral," Waters said. "I know it was trending, just saying, 'reclaiming my time.'"

Reid highlighted how Waters had sent a letter to Mnuchin requesting copies of all pertinent financial records that "might shed light on President Trump's financial transactions with and business ties to Russia, as well as those of his family members and associates." She went on to claim that Mnuchin was "complimenting" her instead of answering her questions.

"He was filibustering. That's what he was doing. He was trying to take up my time," Waters said. "They have the responsibility for collecting, analyzing all of the data that comes in from all of the financial institutions, the banks, etc, because they have the responsibility to determine whether or not there's money laundering going on."

Waters added that she never got an answer to her question about what Mnuchin does with the information that he sees from the financial institutions and whether he sends relevant information pertaining to Trump's finances to special counsel Robert Mueller, who oversees the Russia investigation.

Reid asked Waters whether she thought Mnuchin was stonewalling her committee.

"Absolutely, he stonewalled me. "Waters said. "At least he tried to. I had to say over and over, 'reclaiming my time.' He came in there determined that he was going to use up the time, so he didn't have to answer any serious questions that he did not want to answer."

Waters interrupted Mnuchin several times during his testimony complaining about losing her time to ask Mnuchin questions. Waters is a staunch critic of the Trump administrations who has repeatedly called for the president's impeachment.