Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
"Mick Mulvaney, the interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told banking industry executives on Tuesday that they should press lawmakers hard to pursue their agenda, and revealed that, as a congressman, he would meet only with lobbyists if they had contributed to his campaign," per N.Y. Times' Glenn Thrush.
Yes, but (Update): Mulvaney's office says his quote — when viewed in full — was meant to encourage constituents to take time to visit with their members of Congress. Mulvaney also said: “If you came from back home and sat in my lobby, I talk to you without exception, regardless of the financial contributions."
The full quote:
“We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress. If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you. If you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you. If you came from back home and sat in my lobby, I talk to you without exception, regardless of the financial contributions. People coming from back home, to tell people in Congress what issues are important to them, is one of the fundamental underpinnings of our representative democracy, and you have to continue to do it.
Editor's note: This post has been updated to add the Mulvaney office's claims on the context of the quote.