Mick Mulvaney is slowing down a probe into one of last year’s most egregious data breaches.
The interim head of a Washington consumer watchdog is easing off an investigation of Equifax, where executives so mishandled updating software, which had a flaw, in 2017 that hackers were able to steal the personal information of 145 million people.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which in the aftermath of the hack had launched a full-scale probe of Equifax, is now, under Mulvaney, backing down, according to a report on Monday.
The CFPB hasn’t sent out any subpoenas to the company or sought sworn testimony from its executives, according to Reuters, which first reported on the agency’s apparent slowing down of the probe.
Mulvaney’s CFPB also stopped cooperating with the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency when they offered to help with on-site exams, Reuters reported.
A spokesman for the CFPB didn’t return a request for comment from The Post but told Reuters it has the tools to examine such a data breach.
Last year, hackers were able to make off with Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers and other personal data of nearly every adult in the US after the company failed to update its systems with free software.
“Another middle finger from @MickMulvaneyOMB to consumers: he’s killed the @CFPB’s probe into the #EquifaxBreach that affected more than 145 million Americans,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a vocal critic of Mulvaney, wrote on Twitter.
This isn’t the first drastic turnaround for the CFPB under Mulvaney.
Last month, the agency canned rules that made it harder for payday lenders to make high-interest loans — and automatically pull funds — from borrowers.
“Mick Mulvaney wants to let Equifax off the hook for its reckless abuse and negligence that may have a lasting impact on millions of Americans,” Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, said in a statement.
Mulvaney has been criticized for going easy on industries that have fed his coffers for his Senate campaigns.
He has said that the contributions don’t influence him because he’s no longer in the Senate.