If You Blow A Whistle And No One Hears It, Has It Made a Sound?

In a story that appears to have been noticed only by a few conservative press and opinion sites, a former CFPB examiner and current "whistleblower," Cassandra Jackson, alleges that when she was an examiner for the CFPB, "her superiors at the CFPB asked her to falsify documents during her investigation into a Texas-based payday lending company, Ace Cash Express."

"During the course of this examination, I was asked to change, remove, and otherwise falsify documents connected with this examination," Jackson said.

Jackson said she was asked to remove document evidence proving Ace Cash Express was complying with CFPB rules and to write a report including findings she knew to be "false and fabricated."

"I was specifically told to cite Ace Cash Express for a violation for which I had verified the company was in compliance and to state that Ace Cash Express did not provide, and that the CFPB did not receive, documents that would have satisfied the CFPB's guidelines, despite having received that information from Ace Cash Express," Jackson said.

Jackson refused to follow management's orders and said she was retaliated against for not falsifying the report. Managers then "proceeded to modify the report" and used it to "garner" a $10 million settlement with the company, even though Jackson said her report "did not find significant violations by the lender."

Jackson alleges that as a result of her refusal to falsify her examination findings, she was given a poor performance review and later forced to resign. She also alleges "widespread racism and gender discrimination" at the Bureau in her five years there.

Jackson's allegations are set forth in a letter addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on December 6, 2017, and also purportedly sent to a number of Congressional representatives and senators, including Jeb Hensarling, Maxine Waters, Mike Crapo, and Sherrod Brown, as well as Mick Mulvaney, Acting Director of the CFPB.

As far as I can discover, thus far there has been not a peep out of most of the main stream media or any of those who received the letter, about these allegations. I realize that the tax "reform" bill, as well as our fearless leader's daily tweets, have been sucking the oxygen out D.C., but these allegations are, to say the least, disturbing. You would think that Mulvany, Crapo and Hensarling would be all over this on purely partisan grounds, even if abstract notions of justice and fair play don't generate much enthusiasm in those deracrinated environs. Moreover, Maxine Waters has, in the past, been a critic of apparent discrimination at the CFPB, and the letter gives her some medium rare red meat to chew on in that respect.

We'll wait patiently to determine if these allegations have merit and, if so, whether or not they'll be swept under the rug because the powers that be have more important things to do, like worry about whether two FBI officials ostensibly bashing Donald Trump in "private" text messages, were actually covering up an extra-marital affair. After all, in the swamp, first things must come first.