The head of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s federal regulator was a key member of a “Trump-directed quartet” that “engaged in outrageous conduct” to obtain an indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James on baseless allegations of mortgage fraud, her attorneys claim in a motion to dismiss the case.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte allegedly got the ball rolling with an April 14 criminal referral of James to Attorney General Pam Bondi, which was leaked to the New York Post the next day, generating a flurry of media coverage.
But Fannie Mae investigators and Justice Department prosecutors were skeptical of Pulte’s allegations concerning properties in Virginia and New York, her attorneys maintain.
It would be nearly six months before another member of the alleged quartet — interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan — obtained an indictment of James that referenced a different property not mentioned in Pulte’s referral.
In the meantime, Pulte may have used his position as the head of FHFA to improperly access Fannie Mae records on mortgages taken out by James and others, her attorneys said Monday in their motion to dismiss the case.
Investigation launched after referral
It wasn’t until after Pulte’s criminal referral of James that “an expansive and fast-growing investigation” into … James’ properties, and related mortgages, took off within FHFA and Fannie Mae,” her attorneys said.
Because the FHFA does not house documents on individual mortgages in its own system, Pulte either relied on the blog of self-described white collar fraud investigator Sam Antar, purchased mortgage documents himself or illegally accessed her loan files from Fannie Mae’s database, James’ attorneys claim.
“Any one of these three most likely possibilities constitutes outrageous government conduct by the FHFA Director,” James’ attorneys alleged.
The FHFA has not responded to requests for comment from Inman and other media outlets, and Pulte — who typically issues multiple tweets a day to his three million followers on X — has been silent on the platform for more than a week.
In a Nov. 15 profile, The Wall Street Journal reported that some Trump administration officials “have grown wary of Pulte’s unorthodox and aggressive tactics” and have pushed for Trump to fire him. But the president has refused, saying he appreciates Pulte’s loyalty, the Journal reported, citing anonymous sources.
According to James’ attorneys, “Fannie Mae ethics and investigations groups were so concerned that Director Pulte may have improperly and illegally accessed mortgage documents that they launched a probe” into how he obtained her mortgage documents.
“Intent on covering his tracks, instead of allowing the internal investigation to continue … Pulte fired about a dozen members of the ethics and investigations units,” James’ attorneys said, citing reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
When FHFA acting Inspector General Joe Allen forwarded an internal complaint alleging that Pulte improperly obtained James’ mortgage records to prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Norfolk, Pulte fired him, her attorneys maintain, citing Reuters.
Ed Martin’s ‘strange antics’
In addition to Pulte, Bondi and Halligan, the fourth member of the alleged “Trump-directed quartet” was Justice Department attorney Ed Martin, who James’ attorneys say engaged in “strange antics” that were intended to intimidate her and prejudice public opinion.
On Aug. 12, while Martin was leading the investigation of James, he sent her attorney a letter demanding that she resign from office for the “good of the state and nation” — violating “Justice Department rules, the Principles of Federal Prosecution, and various codes of professional responsibility and ethics,” her attorneys said.
The Department of Justice, which has said it won’t comment on litigation and matters that may be under investigation, did not respond to Inman’s request for comment.
Two days later, Martin “orchestrated a bizarre media stunt,” staging a photo opp in front of James’ Brooklyn home for the New York Post, wearing “an Inspector Gadget-inspired beige trenchcoat” on a hot summer day — another attempt to intimidate, her attorneys said.
On Aug. 20, Martin posted a picture of himself standing in front of James’ home on X, captioned “Good morning, America. How are ya’?”
Good morning, America. How are ya’? pic.twitter.com/qb9Byy8rli
— Ed Martin (@EdMartinDOJ) August 20, 2025
Halligan was the Trump administration’s pick to replace Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who resigned on Sept. 20 after Trump publicly pressured him to bring charges against James and former FBI Director James Comey.
Frustrated by the Department of Justice’s failure to bring charges against James and other political opponents, including former FBI Director James Comey, Trump demanded on Truth Social that Bondi put Halligan in charge of the cases as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Trump meant to message Bondi privately but accidentally posted what was intended to be a direct message to her to his Truth Social account, The Wall Street Journal and NBC News have reported, citing Trump administration officials.
Two assistant U.S. attorneys who were reluctant to bring charges against James, Kristin Bird and Elizabeth Yusi, were fired on Oct. 17, CBS News reported.
“Despite the overwhelming lack of evidence or support from career prosecutors, the Trump-directed quartet of Director Pulte, Mr. Martin, AG Bondi, and Ms. Halligan set out to do what they had been ordered to do: indict AG James,” her attorneys said.
Pulte sent a private letter to Halligan on Oct. 6, summarizing information and financial calculations on the property that would be cited in the Oct. 9 indictment — a home in Norfolk that James bought five years ago for $137,000, taking out a $109,600 mortgage.
According to Pulte’s letter, James got a better interest rate and seller credit by fraudulently claiming the property would be a second home, rather than an investment property, saving $18,933 over the life of the loan.
James has entered a not guilty plea, and legal experts have doubts about the government’s case.
Department of Justice prosecutors who worked on the case for months summarized their concerns about bringing charges against James in a September memo that noted James had told Realtors and loan officers she was buying the home for her grand-niece, and there was no evidence she collected rent on the property, ABC News reported.
James and Comey both maintain that Halligan’s appointment was illegal, and that the charges against them should be dismissed on that basis.
In her motion Monday, James asked the court to dismiss the indictment “with prejudice for outrageous government conduct,” or for an order granting discovery concerning the government’s conduct.
Halligan also provided the lone signature on a Sept. 25 indictment of Comey accusing him of lying in a September 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee, when he said had not authorized FBI leaks to the news media. Comey’s lawyers maintain he responded truthfully to a vague question.
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick on Monday ordered the Department of Justice to provide all grand jury materials from the case to Comey’s defense team, saying Halligan made “fundamental misstatements of the law” to the grand jury.
The record in Comey’s case “points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps,” Fitzpatrick ruled, and Comey’s rights to due process outweigh concerns for grand jury secrecy.
Pulte’s 4 criminal referrals
Since launching the investigation into James, Pulte has referred three other perceived enemies of the Trump administration — Sen. Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and Rep. Eric Swalwell — to the Department of Justice for investigation of mortgage fraud.
All deny wrongdoing, saying they are victims of political retribution, and only James has been charged.
In her role as New York Attorney General, James won a $486 million civil fraud judgment against Trump last year that is under appeal. Schiff was the lead prosecutor making the case for Trump’s impeachment in the Senate in 2018.
Swalwell sued Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, takeover of the U.S. Capitol, accusing him of inciting violence. That case is pending in a federal district court in Washington, D.C..
Trump, who has feuded with the Federal Reserve over interest rates, has cited Pulte’s criminal referral of Cook in his attempt to remove her from the Federal Reserve Board. The Supreme Court has allowed Cook to continue serving on the Fed pending a January hearing.
As part of a pressure campaign to persuade Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower rates or resign, Pulte accused him of mismanaging a $2.5 billion renovation of the central bank’s headquarters and lying to Congress — allegations that have disappeared from the headlines since the Fed refuted them.
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