All the Devils Are Here [131]
Arnall’s confirmation hearing took place in November 2005. His wife and his brother Claude sat proudly in the audience. Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor and a Democratic congressman from California who Arnall had long supported, introduced him. “I strongly believe, Mr. Chairman, that Roland is one of the great anonymous philanthropists of our time,” said Lantos. Norm Coleman, the Republican senator from Minnesota, called Arnall a “friend,” and said, “I’m particularly proud of Mr. Arnall’s achievements.” Senator George Allen, the Republican from Virginia, noted that the governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, had sent a thank-you note for Arnall’s generosity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and he pointed out that letters supporting Arnall had arrived from the speaker of the California State Assembly, the governor of Pennsylvania, and the mayor of Los Angeles. Not surprisingly, Ameriquest—or Dawn Arnall personally—had given generous political contributions to all three.
When it was Arnall’s turn to speak, he began by saying, “I have made ‘Do the right thing’ my motto.” He added, “I would consider our company the antipredatory company. In the late eighties when we founded the company, we provided credit to folks who did not have the opportunity because of their credit history to borrow directly from the institutional banks.” And so it went.
There were only two senators that day who seriously challenged Arnall. One was Paul Sarbanes, who pointed to the still ongoing Ameriquest investigation and asked whether Arnall had truly lived up to his motto. Arnall responded with his “few bad apples” line: “Some of our employees did not do the right thing. When we found out, they were let go and action was taken so that it wouldn’t happen again.”
The other senator was Barack Obama. “I mean, if you go through the record of the allegations that were made, they were allegations that I think most of us would consider to be very problematic,” said Obama. “And I’m wondering whether it is appropriate for us to send someone to represent our country with these issues still looming on the horizon.”
“Thank you, Senator,” Arnall responded. “I’ve read up on your background and I’m very impressed with your life history, and I can appreciate your concerns. I can assure you, Senator, that I have absolutely nothing to do, nor does my wife, in terms of these negotiations.”
Then Obama said, “I’ve gotten a couple of letters here from people who were previously antagonistic to Ameriquest’s activities that are now writing letters of support, which I think is a testament to you and your capacity to win over and work with people who may not have been on the same side initially. I’ve got a letter from Deval Patrick, who actually is a good personal friend of mine....”
“As you know,” Arnall replied, “he’s a man of high integrity, and would not sit on my—on our board unless he felt that it was worthy of who he is and what he represents.”
“Absolutely,” said Obama.
Says one person who was fighting Arnall’s nomination: “We were absolutely devastated. Here was a prominent African-American Democrat saying that this guy was giving opportunities to minorities, and providing cover for Democrats.” On February 8, 2006, Arnall was confirmed by the Senate. The vote took place one month after the announcement of the $325 million settlement with the state attorneys. Press reports said that the payment “cleared the way” for Arnall’s confirmation. One last time, Arnall’s willingness to pay to make problems go away had served