Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have joined forces to question Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about his role in the failure of Sears department store chain while he was a board member.

In a letter to the Treasury Secretary, the two progressive idols said they were “deeply concerned” Mr. Mnuchin may have helped drive Sears to bankruptcy to make money off of its failure, which led to billion-dollar losses and almost 250,000 employee layoffs.

“We are deeply concerned by the financial engineering and potentially illegal activity that took place at Sears Holding Corporation while you served on the company’s board. We are concerned that, as Treasury Secretary, you are in position to take actions that benefit Sears‘ shareholders and owners at the expense of workers and taxpayers,” they said in a joint letter, asking for answers to attached questions in mid-June.

In an explainer video featuring the two lawmakers explaining their concerns, they said Mr. Mnuchin’s old college roommate, CEO Eddie Lampert, put Mr. Mnuchin on the board of the company before “he drove the company into the ground.”

“Mr. Mnuchin is President Trump’s Treasury secretary, and he is a walking example of what happens when rich and powerful people put other rich and powerful people into power,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said in the video.

Elizabeth Warren added Americans “deserve a Treasury Secretary who fights for them. Not someone who spent a decade raking in cash for himself at the expense of hundreds of thousands of Sears employees.”

“We think the American people deserve answers, and we’re out there to fight for them,” Ms. Warren said.

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