In recent months, Bill Pulte, the Trump loyalist who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has taken it upon himself to target one White House foe after another, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook. Last week, the FHFA chief’s target list grew a little longer.
As part of a larger partisan gambit to weaponize mortgage fraud allegations against the president’s perceived political enemies, Pulte also referred Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California to the Justice Department for a potential federal criminal probe.
Under normal circumstances, seeing a federal agency refer a sitting member of Congress to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution would spark a serious controversy on Capitol Hill. But in 2025, the scandal has nothing to do with the accused and everything to do with the accuser.
This week, the Democratic congressman, who has denied any wrongdoing and who also recently launched a gubernatorial campaign in his home state, turned the tables. The New York Times reported:
Representative Eric Swalwell of California on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Bill Pulte … claiming Mr. Pulte breached federal privacy laws by repeatedly disclosing documents intended to accuse prominent Democrats of mortgage fraud. … The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, argues that Mr. Pulte ‘abused his position by scouring databases’ of mortgage records, selectively looking for records with which to ‘concoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud’ in making his Nov. 13 referral.
The 19-page court filing paints a picture of a Republican administration determined to retaliate against those the president perceives as political foes. “Since taking office, President Trump has engaged in unprecedented efforts to leverage the power of the federal government to seek retribution against his political enemies,” the complaint read.
In a statement of his own, Swalwell added, “Director Pulte has combed through private records of political opponents. To silence them. There’s a reason the First Amendment — the freedom of speech — comes before all others.”
The Times added that the congressman’s case “asks a federal judge to declare Mr. Pulte’s actions illegal and direct Mr. Pulte and the Federal Housing Finance Agency to withdraw the criminal referral.” Watch this space.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
