Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and seven of her Democratic Senate colleagues sent a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro calling for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte for potential abuse of federal authority and resources.
This year alone, FHFA Director Pulte has made high-profile criminal referrals alleging mortgage fraud against New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, Senator Adam Schiff, and Congressman Eric Swalwell – all political enemies of President Donald Trump. Their attorneys have raised concerns about the perceived lack of legal basis for these referrals. Before each of these referrals, Trump had publicly threatened each of the subjects of the referrals with political and criminal retribution.
“Mr. Pulte’s actions demand scrutiny,” wrote the Democratic Senators. “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.”
In their letter, the Senators requested a GAO investigation into any changes that have been made to mortgage fraud investigations at the FHFA under Director Pulte, including in his capacity as the Chair of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Boards, and whether controls are in place and being followed in such cases.
“Despite repeatedly claiming his investigations are nonpartisan, Mr. Pulte’s public accusations appear to have solely targeted prominent Democrats and public officials, including those President Trump has publicly threatened with political and criminal retribution. Taxpayer-funded agencies must not serve as instruments of partisan attack. If FHFA resources were used to target public officials for personal or partisan motives, the public has a right to know,” the Senators continued.
Read the full letter here. Additional signatories to the letter include Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
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