The U.S. Government Accountability Office will investigate whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s federal regulator and its employees “misused federal authority and resources.” The investigation comes at the request of Senate Democrats, who claim Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte has weaponized the agency to target perceived enemies of the Trump administration.
But the GAO — an independent agency that works for Congress to provide “objective, non-partisan, fact-based information” — won’t have the staff to launch the “engagement” for 4 months, GAO Congressional Relations Managing Director A. Nicole Clowers informed lawmakers on Dec. 1.
Pulte has sent criminal referrals of four prominent Democrats to the Department of Justice suggesting they committed mortgage fraud. All deny wrongdoing, and the case against the only person to be charged to date — New York Attorney General Letitia James — was dismissed last month by a judge who ruled the prosecutor in the case, interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.
Attorneys for James characterized Pulte as a key member of a “Trump-directed quartet” that “engaged in outrageous conduct” to indict her on baseless allegations of mortgage fraud.
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 maintained, citing a Reuters report.
Pulte’s criminal referrals of Sen. Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and Rep. Eric Swalwell have generated similar allegations that the Trump administration official — who also serves as chair of Fannie and Freddie — has abused his authority by enlisting the mortgage giants in attacks on perceived political enemies.
Eight Senate Democrats, including ranking Banking Committee member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, wrote U.S. Comptroller Gene Dodaro on Nov. 17 to ask that the GAO conduct an investigation to help lawmakers “better understand what is taking place at FHFA.”
“Pulte’s actions demand scrutiny,” Senate Democrats told Dodaro. “It is unclear why Pulte made these claims, how he accessed the information as Director to make such claims, and whether and how official FHFA resources — staff time, government communications systems, or privileged data — were used to do so.”
The FHFA did not respond to a request for comment from Inman, and declined to comment to Reuters, which broke the story on Thursday.
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung told Reuters that “Bill Pulte is one of the President’s most loyal and important advisors who is doing a great job.”
Pulte has in the past rejected claims that he has weaponized Fannie and Freddie, claiming that mortgage fraud is “rampant” and that the Trump administration will enforce the law against anyone who breaks it, regardless of political affiliation.
Swalwell sued Pulte, the FHFA, Fannie and Freddie on Nov. 25, alleging violations of his First Amendment right to engage in protected political speech and the Privacy Act of 1974, which forbids federal agencies from disclosing sensitive information about individuals for purposes not explicitly authorized by the law.
“Pulte’s acquisition and use of confidential mortgage records from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is so abnormal and concerning … that it triggered an internal complaint within Fannie Mae,” attorneys for Swalwell alleged in their complaint.
A dozen officials in Fannie Mae’s ethics and internal investigations unit who were fired on Oct. 30 were looking into whether “Pulte had improperly obtained mortgage records of key Democratic officials,” The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 12.
The Journal had previously reported that Fannie Mae Chief Ethics Officer Suzanne Libby was fired in the purge, while General Counsel Danielle McCoy was pressured to resign. Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar was also removed from her job in October, and Chief Operating Officer Peter Akwaboah is serving as Fannie Mae’s CEO on an interim basis.
Christine Bish, a Rocklin, California-based Realtor whose tip to the FHFA led to Pulte’s criminal referral of Schiff, is now a witness in a grand jury investigation into the handling of that case.
On July 20, President Trump posted on Truth Social one of the documents that Bish sent to Pulte in April about a home Schiff owns in Maryland, calling for him to be prosecuted.
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