WASHINGTON — Sen. Sherrod Brown asked the FBI today to release information on an investigation into a media company whose board of directors included U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin.

Brown sent the letter to FBI Director James Comey after MuckRock, an open records platform, requested information from the FBI on records tied to Mnuchin’s companies. The FBI refused to release information about Relativity Media, on whose board Mnuchin served, saying releasing the information could “interfere with enforcement proceedings.”

Brown, a ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said it’s “in the public’s interest” for the FBI to release information on Mnuchin and Relativity.

“The job of secretary of the treasury is among our nation’s most important,” he wrote. “If Mr. Mnuchin is to be confirmed for that position, we must ensure that his ability to do the job of overseeing American finance and trade in a manner befitting that office is in no way compromised.”

Relativity Media produced or coproduced films including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mamma Mia and Les Miserables, among others with Mnuchin at one point serving as the company’s co-chairman. The company eventually went into bankruptcy.

According to Variety Magazine, Mnuchin lost money when the company went bankrupt, but there were questions about a bank which Mnuchin also at one point headed, and its decision to pull $50 million from the company weeks before the bankruptcy.

Brown’s letter is the latest sharp line of questioning Brown has directed at President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees.

While he has not said how he’ll vote on Mnuchin’s confirmation, Brown was one of the very first to come out against attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions and today announced he would not support Betsy DeVos for education secretary.

DeVos has not replied to multiple letters from Brown and his colleagues asking for answers regarding the unpaid $5.3 million fine imposed by the Ohio Elections Commission on a political action committee she and her husband founded. The All Children Matter PAC owes the state money for campaign finance violations dating back to 2008. DeVos has built her career advocating for school choice, incluiding private school vouchers, and the PAC supported candidates who supported vouchers.

“I cannot support Betsy DeVos for secretary of education, because I cannot look Ohio parents in the eye and tell them she won’t put profits ahead of their children’s education,” Brown said.

Brown said he is also unlikely to back Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. “I’m very concerned about him as HHS Secretary,” Brown said, “because he spent much of his career trying to privatize Medicare and raise the eligibility age for Medicare.”

While Brown has been skeptical of some Trump nominees, in a conference call today, he insisted that he will likely vote yes on a handful of the Republican’s cabinet picks.

The Ohio Democrat said he will likely back Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s pick for U.S. trade ambassador; Wilbur Ross, Jr., Trump’s commerce secretary pick; defense secretary nominee James Mattis; transportation secretary pick Elaine Chao; and Veterans Administration nominee David Shulkin.

He said he’s worked with Ross and Lighthizer on trade issues and feels comfortable with them, and also knows VA nominee Shulkin. He and Chao, meanwhile, had a long conversation recently about repairing the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati and Brown says “I’ve known her for years.”

“I’m certainly open to many of them,” he said of Trump’s nominees. “I just find a number of them way outside the mainstream in what our country stands for.”

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has said he's "thoughtfully considering" all the nominees, has submitted questions to some, but does not oppose any at this point in the process.

jwehrman@dispatch.com

@JessicaWehrman