Mortgage fraud referrals are at the center of a political firestorm
The Government Accountability Office has opened an investigation into Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director Bill Pulte over alleged misuse of federal authority and resources in a series of mortgage fraud referrals to the Department of Justice.
The office, which acts as a congressional watchdog, said Thursday it had “accepted [the] request” of a group of Democratic senators to investigate Pulte.
In a November 17 letter to the GAO, Democrats referenced Pulte’s referrals of New York attorney general Letitia James, US senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, and US congressman Eric Swalwell to the DOJ for alleged mortgage fraud.
They questioned Pulte’s claims he had acted in a nonpartisan manner and said his accusations “appear to have solely targeted prominent Democrats and public officials, including those President Trump has publicly threatened with political and criminal retribution.”
It’s unclear how long the investigation might take. According to CNBC, a GAO spokesperson indicated even the initial process – determining the full scope of what will be covered and the methodology to use – could last a few months.
The investigation marks the latest twist in a dramatic year for Pulte, a homebuilding executive who’s emerged as a prominent Trump loyalist since becoming FHFA director earlier this year.
Last week, Swalwell launched a lawsuit against Pulte, describing the mortgage fraud allegations against him as “fanciful” and claiming that Pulte “has combed through private records of political opponents to silence them.”
Meanwhile, Cook – a Fed official who’s voted consistently against interest rate cuts this year – is embroiled in a legal battle against her criminal referral. Her attorneys described mortgage fraud allegations against her as “baseless” in a letter to the DOJ and blasted what they described as Pulte’s “partisan use of the criminal referral process.”
They said Pulte had used the FHFA “selectively – and publicly” to investigate and target Trump’s political enemies, creating “the unmistakable impression that he has been improperly coordinating with the White House to manufacture flimsy predicates to launch these probes.”
Neither Pulte nor the FHFA have yet to comment on the GAO investigation.
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