During a hearing focused on the issue of financial stability held in February 2026, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) went on an unhinged rant against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, repeatedly yelling at him as he attempted to answer questions, telling Bessent to “stop covering” for President Donald Trump. Meeks serves as a member of the House Committee on Financial Services.
At one point during the exchange, Meeks went off the rails and yelled, “I’m asking you to do your responsibility as a secretary of the Treasury. Stop covering for the president. Stop being a flunky.” Completely agitated, he continued, “Don’t be a flunky — work for the American people! Work for the American people! Don’t be a cover-up for a mob!”
Meeks, along with other Democratic lawmakers, came swinging for the fences in their questioning of Bessent concerning President Trump’s tariff agenda and business interests. The Democratic congressman delivered an overview of the controversial savings and loan scandal that unfolded during the 1980s when President George H.W. Bush introduced major regulatory changes following accusations against five U.S. senators who allegedly expedited the case of Lincoln Savings and Loan Association Chair Charles Keating Jr. smack in the middle of a regulatory investigation.
According to The Hill, the situation came to a close after a taxpayer-funded bailout of Wall Street to the tune of over $130 billion. “Now Mr. Secretary, I’m sure you can agree that conflicts of interest and improper influence by U.S. elected officials over bank regulators weaken supervisory independence and ultimately impose massive losses on consumers and taxpayers, I think we can all agree to that,” Meeks stated during the hearing.
Meeks continued by saying that a “foreign asset firm” with connections to the United Arab Emirates “quietly bought about half of the Trump family’s crypto company, World Liberty Financial, and at the very same time, the president of the United States was dealing with that country on foreign policy.” The New York Democrat then shredded the Trump family for their company’s foreign business dealings.
“This is no longer just about a shady crypto deal or a possible gift,” Meeks ranted. “When a foreign-linked investor is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into a company controlled by the president’s family and at the same time this president is conducting foreign policy with that country. You know what that creates? A national security concern.”
He then asked Bessent if he would pause and launch a probe into World Liberty Financial’s licensing at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Bessent replied by noting the OCC was “an independent entity” before going on to level accusations at Meeks concerning his trip to Venezuela in 2006 to “lobby [former Venezuelan President] Hugo Chavez on behalf of your donors.”
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That comment seemed to strike a nerve with Meeks, as his voice rose in anger and the two men began to talk heatedly over each other. Committee Chairman French Hill (R-AR) tried to restore the hearing to order, but the bickering continued for a bit longer. The hearing finally moved forward after Hill got the two men to settle down.
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