Biden’s controversial anti-crypto editor candidate is pulling out

Saule Omarova has declined her nomination as currency controller amid a storm of intense scrutiny of her crypto and banking positions.

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The office of auditor in the United States will operate with only one controller shortly after President Biden’s candidate Saule Omarova withdrew her candidacy from the nomination process.

Following Omarowa’s withdrawal, President Biden said on December 7, “Saule has suffered inappropriately personal assaults beyond the fainted.”

The Monetary Authority oversees the regulation of chartered banks across the country. Cryptocurrency advocates have viewed Omarova as a poor choice for the controller due to her anti-crypto stance.

Omarova raised heated questions from Republican senators and several Democrats on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee about their views on private banking and cryptocurrency regulation during the hearings.

Some Republicans, like Senator John Kennedy, focused on Omarova’s upbringing in the Soviet Union.

During a Senate hearing on November 18, Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis asked Omarova about her views on cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Omarova expressed concern that ultimately private technology companies implementing stablecoin infrastructure will put private for-profit interests above the public’s need for open banking.

When asked if she thought the government issued fiat currency was better than private trade, Omarova replied:

“I worry that private innovation will undermine many of the important public policies that we need to pursue.”

Omarova attended Moscow State University in Moscow, Russia on a VI Lenin Academic Fellowship, where she reportedly wrote a dissertation on Karl Marx. The dissertation was published in Omarova’s résumé in April 2017. Republican Senator Pat Toomey was informed that the dissertation had been deleted and therefore could not be published.

Related: Road in the sand: US Congress brings partisan politics to crypto

Republican Senator Mike Crapo called on Omarova to explain her position on state-chartered banks in relation to climate change. It supports the banking system’s right to take out of business what it calls “socially sub-optimal industries” by denying them access to credit.

Their position is: “We get rid of carbon donors by starving their capital.”

After Omarowa’s withdrawal, President Biden must nominate another candidate for the office of controller.