OneWest job savior: Treasury pick

Steve Mnuchin is not a heartless banker.

Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary defended himself on Thursday against claims that a bank he ran foreclosed on thousands of homeowners callously after the 2008 economic downturn.

“Since I was first nominated … I have been maligned as taking advantage of others’ hardship in order to earn a buck. Nothing could be further from the truth ,” Mnuchin, a hedge fund manager and Hollywood producer, told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.

The 54-year-old Wall Street vet said he has been attacked for purchasing failed lender Indy Mac from the federal government for $1.6 billion. But he said the lender, which he renamed OneWest, modified more than 100,000 loans, saving thousands of jobs.

M nu chin said he inherited thousands of bad loans from the faltering California bank and set out on a path to return it to financial health.

“The responsibility landed on me to cleanup themes st hat we inherited ,” he said. “It has been said that I ran a ‘foreclosure machine.’ This is not true. On the contrary, I was committed to loan modifications intended to stop foreclo- sures. I ran a ‘loan modification machine.’ ”

In opening remarks, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the ranking member of the panel, claimed M nu chin saved the bank onthe backs of homeowners.

“OneWest churned out foreclosures like Trump’ s Chinese factories churned out shirts and ties,” Wyden charged.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the committee chairman, dismissed the “stupid arguments.”

“Put simply, if the confirmation process focused mainly on the question of the nominee’s qualifications, there would be little if any opposition,” Hatch said.