A political firestorm is swirling around the head of a major federal housing agency, where a Trump administration appointee is facing intense scrutiny for allegedly politicizing a nonpartisan office to launch a series of probes against the President’s perceived political opponents.
The controversy centers on William Pulte, the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the watchdog responsible for overseeing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte has used his position to refer several prominent Democrats to the Department of Justice for alleged mortgage fraud, a highly unusual move for an FHFA director.
Among the high-profile targets are Congressman Eric Swalwell and Senator Adam Schiff, both California Democrats and known critics of the President, as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The central allegation in these referrals is a form of “occupancy fraud,” claiming a second property as a primary residence to obtain more favorable mortgage rates.
The explosive aspect of this story is the source of inspiration for the investigations. Internal government emails reportedly show that Pulte’s push for a probe into at least one Democratic congressman was directly inspired by a conservative media outlet. This finding suggests an unprecedented level of external political influence over an agency whose mission is focused on housing finance, not political investigations. Critics say this is evidence of the FHFA being improperly leveraged to target the administration’s adversaries.
The response from Capitol Hill and the officials themselves has been swift and severe. Rep. Swalwell filed a civil lawsuit against Pulte in November, accusing the Director of abusing his power by illegally scouring government databases for private mortgage records and then weaponizing that confidential information. Swalwell’s legal team contends that the criminal referral was not only based on a “gross mischaracterization of reality” but also violated the Privacy Act and the First Amendment, arguing the action was retaliation for the congressman’s protected political speech.
Meanwhile, the backlash has grown into a formal investigation of Pulte himself. In response to a request from top Senate Democrats, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, has agreed to open a probe into the FHFA Director’s actions. Congressional Democrats are demanding answers about whether Pulte and other FHFA employees misused federal authority and resources to conduct a political “deep-sea fishing expedition” of Americans’ private financial information.
The controversy highlights a growing concern in Washington about the politicization of independent federal agencies. As one Democratic oversight committee member put it, “The federal government should be used to serve the American people, not for Donald Trump’s revenge fantasies.” With the GAO probe underway and a federal lawsuit moving through the courts, the focus has shifted from the initial mortgage fraud allegations to the question of whether a nonpartisan government office was weaponized for political retribution.