Warren, Senate Democrats Call for Independent Watchdog Investigation into FHFA Director Pulte’s Potential Misuse of Federal Authority and Resources to Target Democratic Officials
“If FHFA resources were used to target public officials for personal or partisan motives, the public has a right to know.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tina Smith (D-MN), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) 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, including in his capacity as the Chair of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Boards, and other FHFA employees’ potential misuse of federal authority and resources to publicly accuse prominent Democrats and President Donald Trump’s perceived political enemies of mortgage fraud and refer them to the U.S. Department of Justice. Ranking Member Warren and fellow Senate Democrats previously called on FHFA to release information related to Pulte’s investigations into alleged mortgage fraud, to which FHFA failed to respond.
“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,” wrote the Democratic Senators. “There is also a question of whether Mr. Pulte’s public disclosure of personal financial records and information constitute violations of federal privacy laws, including the Federal Privacy Act of 1974 which ‘holds government employees to strict standards for dealing with and disseminating personal financial information in their possession.’”
The Senators continued: “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 concluded by asking for a GAO investigation into any changes that have been made to mortgage fraud investigations at the FHFA under Director Pulte and whether controls are in place and being followed in cases of alleged mortgage fraud.
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