Democrats say Bill Pulte ‘abused’ his role with mortgage fraud probes
Senate Democrats are pressing Bill Pulte, President Donald Trump’s firebrand housing finance official, for information on how authorities are investigating claims of mortgage fraud by the White House’s political adversaries and raising questions about how personal documents became a key political and legal weapon.
In a Friday letter to Pulte, obtained by The Washington Post, a group of six leading Democrats wrote that Pulte has “abused” his role running the Federal Housing Finance Agency to pursue political goals rather than protecting the housing market. Pulte and the Trump administration have accused three prominent Democrats — New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook — of mortgage fraud, and Pulte has publicly highlighted the allegations against them, though none face criminal charges.
“You have abused your power and authority as FHFA Director to engage in what can only be described as a politically motivated public campaign to attack President Trump’s perceived adversaries,” wrote Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Dick Durbin (Illinois), Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island), Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), Gary C. Peters (Michigan) and Ron Wyden (Oregon).
Pulte did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the FHFA.
The administration has accused James, Schiff and Cook of claiming multiple properties as primary residences on their mortgage applications, and the Justice Department is investigating the allegations. Borrowers aren’t supposed to declare more than one main residence, since they can often get lower rates on primary residences than they can for riskier assets like vacation homes or second homes. All three deny wrongdoing, but Trump is trying to fire Cook over the allegations and has asked the Supreme Court to let him.
Still, it’s unclear how those three prominent Democrats came onto Pulte’s radar or how their personal mortgage documents became fodder for criminal referrals to the Justice Department. The lawmakers are requesting extensive records by mid-October on how the FHFA identifies and investigates mortgage fraud. They also want information on which people within the FHFA, or the government-backed mortgage behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, can access sensitive, nonpublic financial information. Lawmakers also want to know which third-party entities — including software and data analytics company Palantir, which has a fraud-detection partnership with Fannie — can access sensitive data.
And they want Pulte to explain the role of the FHFA’s inspector general in the process. Typically, that inspector general’s Office of Investigations is the main federal law enforcement organization focused on deterring and detecting fraud against Fannie and Freddie. But Pulte himself has released much of the public information in those cases.
The lawmakers also noted that several prominent Republicans have also listed multiple homes as primary residences but have not received public attention from Pulte or the White House. Reporting in ProPublica, for example, showed that at least three of Trump’s Cabinet members call multiple homes their primary residences on mortgages.
“These actions raise questions about the standards your office is applying in determining which allegations to pursue and announce publicly,” the lawmakers wrote.