WH Dodges on Whether Janet Yellen Should Recuse Herself from GameStop-Robinhood Controversy

The White House dodged a question Thursday about whether Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen should recuse herself on issues surrounding the investing app Robinhood.

“I don’t think that I have anything more for you on it, other than to say, separate from the GameStop issue, the secretary of Treasury is one of the world-renowned experts on markets, on the economy,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during the press briefing.

She repeatedly referred reporters who asked questions about the Robinhood issue back to a statement issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She also defended Yellen’s paid speeches to Citadel.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone she was paid to give her perspective and advice before she came into office,” Psaki said.

Yellen earned more than $800,000 speaking to Citadel, a prominent Wall Street hedge fund company that is a key figure in the ongoing scandal after Robinhood blocked trades of GameStop stock on Thursday.

Citadel helped bail out Melvin Capital after the hedge fund lost millions by betting against GameStop before a group of trading populists on Reddit rallied to boost the stock price to unprecedented heights.