President Trump Nominates David Malpass To Head World Bank 2/6/19

President Donald Trump blasted Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) during a cabinet room press spray, calling the Californian Democrat a “political hack.” On Wednesday morning Schiff announced plans to share more than 50 transcripts of committee interviews with the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller as he continues to investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to influence the general election of 2016. Schiff told reporters what he plans to share, which “includes transcripts that the special counsel and Justice Department have not had access to and a great many that they have, but have not been allowed to use for particular purposes including in prosecutions for false statements, obstruction, or perjury or any other like offense.” When Trump was asked to comment on this recent development news that the House Intelligence Committee, of which Schiff is chair, voted on Wednesday to provide transcripts from dozens of witness interviews to the office of the Special Counsel, the commander in chief replied “He has no basis to do that, he’s just a political hack who’s trying to build a name for himself.” Trump continued “no other politician has to go through that…it’s called presidential harassment.”President Trump has nominated Treasury Department official David Malpass, a vocal critic of the World Bank, to head the international financial institution. Malpass, 62, is a conservative with longstanding ties to Trump. He once worked as chief economist at investment bank Bear Stearns, which collapsed in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis. He also served in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. At Treasury, Malpass is currently involved in tense trade negotiations with China.

If approved by the countries that control the World Bank's governing board, which is considered likely, Malpass would replace Jim Yong Kim, who announced his resignation in January and stepped down before his term ended. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, led the search for Kim's successor and recommended Malpass.

The Washington-based World Bank, which is controlled by the world's richest countries, lends money to emerging economies for infrastructure and development. Malpass has frequently complained about corruption and mismanagement at the agency.

"The World Bank's biggest borrower is China. Well, China has plenty of resources, and it doesn't make sense to have money borrowed in the U.S., using the U.S. government guarantee, going into lending in China for a country that's gotten other resources and access to capital markets," he told the Council on Foreign Relations in November 2017.