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A police report from 1995 reveals new striking details about President Biden’s nominee to be comptroller of the currency’s “retail theft” arrest.
Fox News obtained the police report detailing the arrest of Saule Omarova, Biden’s pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Omarova, who was 28 years old at the time, was arrested in 1995 for “retail theft” from a T.J. Maxx store in Madison, Wisconsin. The police report, filed by a T.J. Maxx security agent, says she stole $214 worth of merchandise before being caught.
WHITE HOUSE STANDS BY NOMINEE SAULE OMAROVA, WHO WAS ARRESTED IN 1995 FOR ‘RETAIL THEFT’
(Twitter)
The report says that she stole four pairs of shoes, two bottles of cologne, two belts and socks from the store when she was apprehended.
The T.J. Maxx security agent on duty told police that he saw Omarova take the items by placing them into a large purse and covering them with other clothing items to obscure the stolen items.
The security agent attested that Omarova paid for several items at the jewelry counter but “made no attempt to pay for the items concealed in her purse” and confronted her after she left the store with the stolen items.
President Joe Biden remarks on June’s jobs report.
(White House)
Omarova “immediately requested the opportunity to pay for the items” and was “cooperative” as the security agent said he would “sign a complaint” about the items being taken “without his consent.”
The responding police officer read Omarova her rights, which she “waived,” according to the police report, and then “admitted to have stolen the items.”
“It should be noted that I advised Omarova she was under arrest prior to having read her rights,” the officer wrote.
The nonprofit American Accountability Foundation published the police report on Twitter.
The White House did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment on the recently obtained police report and if, in light of the new details revealed, they remain committed to supporting the nominee.
However, the White House defended Omarova’s nomination in a previous statement to Fox News on Tuesday, saying the nominee has been “fully transparent” about the incident throughout her career, which was a “result of a misunderstanding and confusing situation.”
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 13: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Colonial Pipeline incident in the Roosevelt Room of the White House May 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. President Biden said his administration doesn’t believe the Russian government was behind the pipeline attack and the fuel shortages should end by this weekend or next week. (Photo by T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images)
“The White House strongly supports this historic nomination,” the spokesperson told Fox News on Tuesday.
A Wisconsin Department of Justice background check previously obtained by Fox News lists Omarova as having a deferred prosecution in January 1996 for the charge, which was dropped through the Wisconsin first offender program.
A Senate staffer familiar with the matter confirmed to Fox News that Omarova’s charge was disclosed to the Senate Banking Committee. Her hearing before the committee is scheduled for Thursday.
Senate Banking Committee Republicans are pushing back vigorously against Biden’s latest controversial nominee, highlighting Omarova’s history writing about socialism.
A spokesperson for Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told Fox News that Omarova has “been the subject of a relentless smear campaign” over the charges.
“Since this historic and eminently qualified nominee was put forth by President Biden, she has been the subject of a relentless smear campaign,” the spokesperson said. “The incident took place several decades ago, and the case against Ms. Omarova was dismissed.”
Biden announced in September that he would nominate Omarova to lead the Treasury Department agency that supervises all national banks and thrift institutions across the country.
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Omarova is a Cornell Law School professor who has a history in private law practice and who worked in the Treasury Department under former President George W. Bush.
In addition to writing about Marxism, she has called the banking industry she would regulate in her potential new job the “quintessential a—— industry,” and calling for an end to banking “as we know it,” by “the complete migration of demand deposit accounts to the Federal Reserve.” Demand deposit accounts are the standard checking and savings accounts most Americans have with private banks.
Fox News’ Tyler Olson and Audrey Conklin contributed reporting.
