In the News

John Stumpf walked into a firing line Thursday when he appeared before lawmakers who were furious over revelations that Wells Fargo & Co. may have opened 2 million customer accounts that were fictitious or unauthorized.

Attacks from members of the House Financial Services Committee ranged from implying that he sold shares in 2013 because he knew the scandal would tank the stock to assertions that he should be imprisoned and that the entire board should be ousted.

It was the second time this month that the embattled Wells Fargo chief executive officer has trekked to Washington to face a blistering assault from Congress. And many lawmakers said this was just the beginning of his pain. If Stumpf thought Wells Fargo’s Tuesday announcement that he would give up $41 million of pay would buy him a reprieve, he was sadly mistaken.

Here’s an overview of the attacks:

Representative French Hill, an Arkansas Republican, asked whether Stumpf has discussed the scandal with Warren Buffett, Wells Fargo’s biggest shareholder. Hill drew a comparison between Wells Fargo and Buffett’s famed testimony before Congress in 1991 on Salomon Brothers, in which the billionaire said he would be “ruthless” with anyone who lost a “shred of reputation for the firm.”