Quick Read
- Rep. Eric Swalwell filed a lawsuit against FHFA Director Bill Pulte, the FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, accusing Pulte of abusing his power by fabricating mortgage fraud allegations against Democratic lawmakers.
- The lawsuit claims Pulte violated Swalwell’s First Amendment rights and the Privacy Act of 1974 by improperly accessing and disclosing sensitive mortgage information without legal authorization.
- Swalwell denies Pulte’s allegation that he claimed his D.C. home as a primary residence on a mortgage; a sworn affidavit shows the home is his wife’s primary residence, and he remains a California resident.
- The complaint alleges Pulte fired Fannie Mae ethics officials investigating his conduct and used his control over the mortgage giants to evade accountability, with no response yet from Pulte or related entities.
An AI tool created this summary, which was based on the text of the article and checked by an editor.
One of four Democrats subjected to criminal referrals by Pulte, Swalwell claims FHFA director “exercises unchecked control” over the mortgage giants and has abused his position by scouring their databases to concoct unfounded accusations of mortgage fraud.
The head of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s federal regulator has “abused his position” by scouring databases at the mortgage giants to “concoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud” against prominent Democrats, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell alleges in a lawsuit.
Attorneys for Swalwell — one of four Democrats subjected to criminal referrals by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte — filed the complaint Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Pulte, the FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The lawsuit calls Pulte’s criminal referral “not only a gross mischaracterization of reality” but “a gross abuse of power that violated the law” by violating his First Amendment right to engage in protected political speech, and the Privacy Act of 1974.
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The Privacy Act “explicitly forbids federal agencies from disclosing — or even transmitting to other agencies — sensitive information about any individual for any purpose not explicitly authorized by law.”
Pulte’s allegations that Swalwell claimed his Washington, D.C. home as his primary residence on a mortgage agreement to get better loan terms are “patently false” — a sworn affidavit attached to his mortgage agreement made clear the home would be his wife’s primary residence, his lawyers argue.
Swalwell “was and remains a permanent resident of California,” where he recently announced he’s running for governor, the complaint notes.
As head of the FHFA and chair of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Pulte “effectively exercises unchecked control” over the mortgage giants, and “used that control to insulate himself from accountability within the companies,” Swalwell’s complaint alleges.
“When ethics officials at Fannie Mae expressed concern that Pulte had improperly accessed confidential mortgage records, Pulte fired them — roughly a dozen employees in total — thereby terminating the ethics investigation that they had opened,” the complaint said.
Pulte, the FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not respond to requests for comment. In the past, Pulte has dismissed claims that the FHFA has weaponized mortgage fraud, saying the Trump administration will enforce the law against anyone who breaks it.
Only one of the four Democrats targeted by Pulte has been charged — New York Attorney General Letitia James. The case against James was dismissed Monday by U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, who ruled the prosecutor in the case, interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.
Although Currie left room for the Department of Justice to seek a new indictment against James, it remains to be seen if anyone will be willing to take up the case.
Halligan’s predecessor, Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, resigned on Sept. 20 after Trump publicly pressured him to bring charges against James and former FBI Director James Comey. Halligan’s indictment of Comey was also dismissed Monday.
Two assistant U.S. attorneys who were reluctant to bring charges against James due to the lack of evidence that she committed mortgage fraud, Kristin Bird and Elizabeth Yusi, were fired on Oct. 17, CBS News reported.
Swalwell’s complaint notes that even if they are never charged, leaks of Pulte’s criminal referrals have resulted in “coordinated media coverage designed to intimidate and punish President Trump’s critics.”
When Pulte submitted the criminal referral of Swalwell to the Department of Justice on Nov. 13, “detailed information about the allegations … appeared simultaneously across multiple media outlets and conservative social media accounts in what appeared to be a coordinated leak by FHFA,” the complaint alleges.
Christine Bish, a Rocklin, California-based Realtor whose tip to the FHFA led to a criminal referral of California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, is now a witness in a grand jury investigation into the handling of that case.
Swalwell’s case was assigned to Judge James E. Boasberg — who has been described as “Trump’s least favorite judge” by The New York Times — on Wednesday.
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