Senate Democrats demand GAO investigation into Pulte

A group of Senate Democrats has asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte and other employees over criminal referrals against several public figures as they seek to determine whether federal authority and resources were misused.

In a letter sent Monday to Gene Dodaro, the Comptroller General of the United States, the senators stated that public reporting suggests Pulte’s methods for submitting criminal referrals to the U.S. Department of Justice were “bizarre,” “unusual” and “unheard of.”

“Since taking office, Mr. Pulte has taken multiple steps to expand his role, as Director, in making criminal referrals — including but not limited to establishing a potentially duplicative fraud reporting hotline and announcing high-profile mortgage fraud accusations himself,” the letter states. 

The FHFA did not immediately respond to HousingWire‘s request for comments.

The senators list criminal referrals against New York Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and Congressman Eric Swalwell. 

The letter was signed by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.). 

“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,” the senators wrote. 

They also raised concerns that publicly disclosing the criminal referrals could violate federal privacy laws, including the Privacy Act of 1974.

The senators characterized Pulte’s actions as coordinated with President Donald Trump to “target prominent Democrats and public officials,” including those publicly threatened by Trump with political and criminal retribution.

“Taxpayer-funded agencies must not serve as instruments of partisan attack,” they added.

The request came just days after reports that Fannie Mae officials investigating whether Pulte improperly obtained mortgage records of Democratic officials were fired.

Suzanne Libby, Fannie Mae’s chief ethics officer, was removed, and Danielle McCoy, who served as general counsel, resigned under pressure. The FHFA’s acting inspector general, Joe Allen, who forwarded the report to prosecutors, was also asked to step down.