Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) got another chance in the spotlight today but failed to shine.
The luster is wearing off and now she will be judged on what she does and what she knows, not what she says.
The transition from campaigning to governing is not easy and is filled with many pitfalls. Like the one AOC fell in today when she tried to cross-examine Wells Fargo CEO.
From The Daily Wire: Ocasio-Cortez used her time during the hearing to push her political agenda against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and against the fossil fuel industry.
“Why was the bank involved in the caging of children and financing the caging of children to begin with?” Ocasio-Cortez asked.
“I don’t know how to answer that question because we weren’t,” Sloan responded.
“Uh, so in finan-, you’ve, you were financing, involved in debt financing in CoreCivic and GEO group, correct?” Ocasio-Cortez responded.
“For a period of time, we were involved in financing one of the firms, we are not anymore,” Sloan responded. “I’m not familiar with the specific assertion you are making, we were not involved in that.”
It only got worse from there.
“Should Wells Fargo be held responsible for the damages incurred by Climate Change due to the financing of fossil fuels and these projects?” Ocasio-Cortez asked.
“I don’t know how’d you calculate that, Congresswoman,” Sloan responded.
“Say from spills, or when we have to reinvest in infrastructure building sea walls from the erosion of, um, from the erosion of infrastructure or cleanups, wildfires, etc…,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“Related to that pipeline?” Sloan replied. “I’m not aware that there’s been any of what you’ve described that’s occurred that’s related to that pipeline.”
Growing frustrated, Ocasio-Cortez talked over Sloan as he finished answering her question, asking, “How about, uh, the cleans up from the leaks of the Dakota Access pipeline?”
“I’m not aware of the leaks associated with the Dakota Access pipeline that you’re describing,” Sloan responded.
“So, hypothetically, if there was a leak from the Dakota Access pipeline, why shouldn’t Wells Fargo pay for the clean up of it since it paid for the construction of the pipeline itself?”
“Because we don’t operate the pipeline, we provide financing to the company that’s operating the pipeline,” Sloan answered.
Complete exchange between @RepAOC @AOC and @WellsFargo CEO Timothy Sloan
AOC: "Why was the bank involved in the caging of children and financing the caging of children to begin with?"
SLOAN: "I don't know how to answer that question because we weren't." pic.twitter.com/VJJOcFSn7v
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 12, 2019
