INV-039 · Money & ethics · Misuse of office
Pulte's mortgage-fraud referrals and the sidelined watchdogs
Stage 3 of 5: Official review · IG, ethics office or majority · Last development 1 Oct 2026
FHFA Director Bill Pulte publicly sent criminal mortgage-fraud referrals against Trump critics (Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, Fed Governor Lisa Cook, Rep. Eric Swalwell) to the Justice Department. He went around his agency's inspector general and would not say how he got the mortgage files. Fannie Mae ethics staff who looked into whether FHFA officials had ordered employees to pull those files were removed, and the acting inspector general was ousted. A Maryland grand jury examined whether Pulte and DOJ official Ed Martin let unauthorized people work the cases and shared grand jury material. GAO is reviewing whether FHFA misused federal authority and resources. In Sep 2026 FHFA moved to cut its inspector general's budget so deeply that the office says nearly all staff would go.
The grand jury reporting relies on unnamed sources. Attorney General Bondi said in Dec 2025 that "there is no investigation into Bill Pulte", and no charges or findings have been made public. The GAO report is expected in late 2026 or early 2027.
- People
- Bill Pulte, Ed Martin, Federal Housing Finance Agency
- Agencies
- FHFA, Justice Dept
- Reviewed by
- GAO, FHFA Inspector General, Federal grand jury (Maryland), Senate & House Democrats
Timeline
Senate Banking Democrats write to Pulte demanding he reverse the cuts to FHFA's inspector general office; FHFA issues a statement defending them. [7]
FHFA announces cuts to its inspector general's budget. The inspector general warns Congress this would force it to wind down operations and cut nearly its entire staff, and Democrats on four committees call on Pulte to resign. GAO says its review is ongoing. [6]
Attorney General Bondi posts: "There is no investigation into Bill Pulte." [3]
GAO confirms it has accepted Senate Democrats' request to review whether FHFA and its employees "misused federal authority and resources" in the referrals. [5]
CNN, ABC News and MS NOW report that a Maryland grand jury and the FHFA inspector general are examining whether Pulte and Ed Martin used people outside government on the Schiff and James cases and shared grand jury material with unauthorized people. A key Schiff witness is questioned about her contacts with them. [3]
Reuters reports that FHFA's acting inspector general, Joe Allen, is being removed. Pulte had gone around the inspector general's office when pursuing the referrals. [1]
About a dozen Fannie Mae ethics and internal-investigations staff, including chief ethics officer Suzanne Libby, are fired while looking into complaints that senior FHFA officials ordered employees to access James's and others' mortgage files (as reported by the Wall Street Journal). [2]
Responses
- FHFA spokesperson: "This is more Fake News from people who are trying to impede the criminal justice system." [2]
- Justice Department: "Anonymous sources seeking to spin or influence ongoing processes do a disservice to the public and to the rule of law." [4]
- White House (Steven Cheung): Called Pulte one of Trump's "most loyal and important advisors" and the reporting "a pathetic attempt to distract". [5]
- FHFA: Said its OIG is an "extraordinary budgetary outlier", with staff equal to 18% of FHFA's workforce. [6]
Who is acting on it
- Investigation Fannie Mae ethics staff: Looked into complaints that officials accessed mortgage records (Oct 2025, What happened next)
- Investigation Federal grand jury in Maryland, FHFA Inspector General: Reported to be examining how the referrals were handled (20 Nov 2025, Under way)
- Asked for an investigation Senate Democrats: Asked GAO to review whether FHFA misused its authority (4 Dec 2025, Under way)
- Called for resignation Other congressional Democrats: Democrats on four committees called on Pulte to resign (30 Sep 2026, No reply or result recorded yet)
- Letter Senate Banking Democrats: Asked Pulte to reverse the cuts to FHFA's inspector general office (1 Oct 2026, What happened next)
Sources
Cite this case
Public Trust Tracker. "Pulte's mortgage-fraud referrals and the sidelined watchdogs" (INV-039). Last updated 1 Oct 2026. https://publictrusttracker.org/case/inv-039-pultes-mortgage-fraud-referrals-and-the-sidelined-watchdogs/
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