Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is the subject of an inquiry by the Government Accountability Office, an impartial and independent investigative watchdog for Congress.
Leading Senate Democrats wrote to the agency in November, requesting that it “promptly review recent acts performed at the Federal Housing Finance Agency” by Pulte.
actions that particularly address “recent referrals to the U.S. Department of Justice for New York mortgage fraud” Attorney General Letitia James, Congressman Eric Swalwell, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff.”
Pulte has directed the Justice Department to a number of officials, all of whom have consistently denied any misconduct.
“I can confirm that GAO has approved this request following our usual procedure,” a representative for the agency told NBC News.
“The first thing GAO conducts when any investigation starts is to define the complete scope of what we will cover and the methodology to be followed,” the official said. We are unable to offer an estimated completion date until this is finished, which might take many months.
When asked for comment, the FHFA did not immediately reply.
Pulte has been questioned on many occasions on the source of the mortgage papers he used in his referrals. Pulte claimed to have gotten a “tip” during a September CNBC interview, but he would not reveal the source.
He said at the time, “I am not going to divulge our sources and procedures.” “Almost every day, we recommend people. One of them was Lisa Cook.
Since taking over as head of the FHFA, Pulte has exploited his often unnoticed position to become a vocal critic of a number of Democratic elected leaders that President Donald Trump has targeted, including a governor and the Federal Reserve chair.
Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, has been criticized by Trump on several occasions for not cutting interest rates fast enough. Democrat Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, appointed Cook, a Fed governor, to the board of the central bank.
Pulte was one of the few officials who went with the president on a July visit to the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, which is now undergoing renovations and is a construction site.
Additionally, Pulte has echoed Trump’s criticism of the head of the central bank and its board on social media.
Trump attempted to dismiss Cook in August. Trump referenced Pulte’s recommendation to Attorney General Pam Bondi in a letter to Truth Social. The Supreme Court will now hear the case in January.
