Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren scorch Trump's Treasury secretary as 'hypocrisy at its worst'

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Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday went after President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Steve Mnuchin as Treasury secretary, hinting at large opposition from the Senate Democratic caucus to his nomination.

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"During the campaign, Donald Trump told the American people that he was going to change Washington by taking on Wall Street," Sanders and Warren said in a rare joint statement.

"Donald Trump's choice for Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, is just another Wall Street insider. That is not the type of change that Donald Trump promised to bring to Washington - that is hypocrisy at its worst."

Critics have not let it be lost that Trump frequently called out hedge fund managers and large financial institutions like Goldman Sachs on the campaign trail.

Mnuchin has extensive experience in finance and business. He worked at Goldman Sachs for 17 years, ran a hedge fund, and has been a producer of Hollywood movies.

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During his time running Dune Capital Management, Mnuchin helped the firm acquire mortgage lender IndyMac, changing the firm's name to OneWest. During his time as chairman of OneWest, the company was accused of unfair lending practices to minorities and aggressive foreclosure policies.

This seemed to earn the ire of Sanders and Warren.

"After his bank pocketed billions in taxpayer dollars from the bailout, Mnuchin moved on to make a fortune running another bank that aggressively foreclosed on families still reeling from the crisis," their statement said.

Warren had previously criticized Mnuchin in an earlier statement, calling him the "Forrest Gump of the financial crisis."

"This pick makes clear that Donald Trump wants to cater to the same Wall Street executives that have hurt working families time and again," they concluded.

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