Maloney also said it was suspicious that Stumpf sold $13 million in Wells stock in 2013 (his largest sale ever) shortly after reports of the scam first surfaced in the press.

Florida GOP Rep. Bill Posey said Well Fargo’s actions will harm consumer confidence in the banking industry for years to come.

Kentucky Republican Andy Barr predicted the Wells fraud will lead to a regulatory onslaught that will unfairly hurt small banks.

Stumpf said that among the 5,300 workers axed for participating in the fraud, the highest level Wells executive was an area manager.

While Stumpf said Wells is not too big to manage, outspoken Los Angeles Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman said the company and the other big banks are.

“It’s time to break them up,” said Sherman.

Many expected before the hearing that Republican leaders of the committee would use the hearing to attack the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, probably their least favorite agency in the federal government.

Hensarling’s criticism was oblique and didn’t mention the agency by name, but Scott Garrett, chairman on the subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, went full-force:

“The CFPB was asleep at the wheel. They completely blew it.”

Despite accusations that whistle-blowers who alerted regulators to the scam were fired, Stumpf said Wells has a non-retaliation policy.