House Judiciary Democrats are launching a probe into the Trump’s administration’s investigations into mortgage fraud, saying an agency engaged in “brazen abuse” of its power in targeting three of the president’s perceived political foes.
The Federal Finance Housing Authority (FHFA) has made criminal referrals to the Justice Department for alleged mortgage fraud, presenting cases for Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) asked Trump ally and FHFA director Bill Putle to turn over all documents related to his investigations, saying he used the agency “to target people on President Trump’s political enemies list for investigation and vilification.”
“Your decision to use the FHFA to selectively—and publicly—investigate and target the President’s designated political enemies gives rise to the unmistakable impression that you have been improperly coordinating with the White House to launch these probes,” Raskin wrote to Pulte.
“It appears that you are using FHFA to conduct deep-sea fishing expeditions of Americans’ personal financial information, apparently with help from Peter Thiel’s data company, Palantir, to deliver artificial intelligence-aided opposition research reports on officials who have held President Trump accountable or potentially stand in the way of his complete takeover of the independent Federal Reserve Board.”
Following Pulte’s recommendations, the Justice Department appointed Ed Martin, who failed to secure approval from the Senate for a U.S. Attorney role, to take over the criminal investigation through his perch at the Weaponization Working Group.
In each case, Putle accused the group of claiming a home was a primary residence in order to secure more favorable loan terms. Each has denied any wrongdoing.
Raskin accused Putle of tapping FHFA resources and “using this massive trove of Americans’ personal data as a weapon with which to exact retribution and pressure on behalf of the President.”
“While it is unclear exactly who ordered these specific records to be pulled, and on what basis, the roster of the individuals you have chosen to target and publicly refer to DOJ inescapably suggests that your overarching purpose is to punish and smear critics of President Trump,” he wrote.
Pulte did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Last month Schiff created a legal defense fund as he prepares to fight the investigation into his Maryland home.
Schiff has said Trump is making hay out of the fact that he, like many lawmakers, lives in two places.
“So the president today is accusing me of fraud. And the basis of his accusation is that I own a home in Maryland, and I own my home in California. Big surprise—members of Congress, almost all of them, own more than one home or rent more than one home because we’re required to be on both coasts. So he is using my ownership of two homes to make a false claim of mortgage fraud,” Schiff said in a July video when Trump first raised the charge.
Schiff’s office said his lender was aware he also owned a home in California, and that he considered both homes to be a principal residence. He has only claimed the homestead exemption once, in California.
James, through an attorney, said she was targeted as part of “the president’s political retribution campaign.”
“Weaponizing the Department of Justice to try to punish an elected official for doing her job is an attack on the rule of law and a dangerous escalation by this administration. If prosecutors carry out this improper tactic and are genuinely interested in the truth, we are ready and waiting with the facts and the law,” her attorney Abbe Lowell said after news of a probe broke.
Lowell, who is also Cook’s attorney, also blasted the probe into her, referring to them as “cut and paste” allegations that don’t justify her firing from the Board of Governors. Trump cited the allegations in firing her.
Pulte, a Trump loyalist, donated millions to Trump’s campaigns.
But he’s reportedly been a controversial figure for some in the administration, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent apparently threatening to punch him in a recent meeting.
Pulte also recently abruptly canceled a press conference he was slated to hold on Lisa Cook. In a later television appearance, he refused to answer questions about where he got the “tip” about her mortgage.
The letter from Raskin asks for all documents related to the probe as well as for any communications with the White House.
“The American people have a right to understand why FHFA is reviewing decades-old mortgages,” Raskin wrote.
“This irregularity was heightened by the manner in which you publicized these allegations, which seemed designed to provide both cover and pretext for the Trump Administration to engage in further illegal actions. Although standard procedure for a FHFA fraud referral is for FHFA’s Inspector General to transmit these sensitive allegations confidentially to DOJ, you not only made these referrals to DOJ personally, but aggressively publicized them.”
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