November 18, 2025
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, today joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Banking Committee, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) to send a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. In their letter, the Senators called 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.’”
“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,” the Senators continued. “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.
The full text of the letter can be found here and below.
Dear Mr. Dodaro,
We are writing to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) promptly investigate recent actions undertaken at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), by its Director, William J. Pulte, and by other relevant FHFA employees to determine whether the agency and its employees misused federal authority and resources. Specifically, we request an investigation into Director Pulte’s recent referrals of New York Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and Congressman Eric Swalwell to the U.S. Department of Justice for mortgage fraud.
Since his confirmation in March 2025, Mr. Pulte has submitted criminal referrals to the Justice Department suggesting that New York Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and Congressman Eric Swalwell have committed mortgage fraud. Public reports suggest the process through which Mr. Pulte has done so is “bizarre,” “unusual,” and “unheard of.” According to former FHFA officials, the FHFA Office of Inspector General (OIG)—not the FHFA Director—is primarily responsible for mortgage fraud investigations and criminal referrals, and Mr. Pulte allegedly “skipped over” the OIG “when making criminal referrals…bypassing rules meant to ensure that federal officials don’t abuse their power for partisan purposes.” And 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.
Mr. Pulte’s actions demand scrutiny. 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. There is also a question of whether Mr. Pulte’s public disclosure of personal financial records and information constitutes 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.”
Mr. Pulte, notably, is reportedly in contact with President Trump regarding his mortgage fraud investigations—creating a clear path through which Mr. Pulte could be working with the President to identify and execute on mortgage fraud investigation targets. 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.
To help us better understand what is taking place at FHFA, as well as to better understand the actions of FHFA Director Pulte, we ask GAO to conduct an investigation of recent actions undertaken at FHFA and report on the following:
- An overview of the existing laws, regulations, processes, procedures, and norms that govern mortgage fraud investigations that originate at FHFA, including the process for criminally referring individuals to the Department of Justice.
- An overview of the existing laws, regulations, processes, procedures, and norms that govern the disclosure of personal financial records and information by FHFA.
- A detailed review of what changes, if any, Director Pulte, and other relevant FHFA officials, have made to the FHFA’s standard processes, procedures, and norms governing mortgage fraud investigations at the agency since Mr. Pulte was confirmed as FHFA Director.
- A detailed review of the controls in place at FHFA and FHFA OIG to ensure that applicable policies and standards are followed in connection with the identification, investigation and referral of cases of alleged mortgage fraud, including what those controls are designed to detect and how they are applied and enforced. For example, whether those controls differ by the type of mortgage fraud investigation or how investigations are initiated. Please include:
- Trends in the number of tips, reviews, and investigations handled by FHFA and FHFA OIG, respectively, including between March 2025 and August 2025;
- The extent to which FHFA and FHFA OIG have consistently applied these controls in a selection of closed mortgage fraud cases, including any in 2025, if appropriate.
Please keep our offices apprised of your review. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.