Washington, D.C. — Newly released internal records obtained by Democracy Forward reveal that the Federal Housing Finance Agency acted inconsistent with the investigative safeguards of its own Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) when sensitive mortgage data for prominent public officials—including Senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook, and New York Attorney General Letitia James—was accessed and referred for criminal investigation under politically motivated retaliatory circumstances.
The records—released only after Democracy Forward sued the FHFA for unlawfully withholding information—show that key protections designed to prevent abuse of investigative power were ignored or overridden. Portions of the agency’s confidential Office of Investigations Policies and Procedures Manual reveal that the OIG is required to:
- Establish credible evidence before opening a case,
- Meticulously document every investigative step,
- Remain independent from political influence, and
- Refer matters to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) only after professional review by career agents.
But the documents, in combination with public reporting and social media posts, show that these safeguards were ignored and bypassed in the politically motivated “referrals” made under FHFA Director William J. Pulte, a Trump-Vance appointee who has publicly promoted his “criminal referrals” on social media and cable television. The investigations appear to have originated outside normal complaint channels and lacked the independence and oversight required by agency policy.
“These records confirm what we feared: federal investigative power was misused for political purposes, and the safeguards that protect the public from abuse of power were ignored,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “When the machinery of government is twisted to punish perceived opponents, it’s not just an ethical failure—it’s a constitutional one. The American people deserve answers, and we will continue fighting in court to expose how far this politicization has gone.”
The FHFA-OIG’s own policies require that investigations be “free from personal biases or outside influences,” only “credible and specific” allegations tied to FHFA or its programs may be pursued, and trained investigators, not political appointees, must make all referrals to the DOJ.
Yet according to the released records and public reporting, Director Pulte circumvented these standards by directly demanding mortgage files for sitting public officials and transmitting those documents to the DOJ, while publicly promoting them as evidence of “fraud.” But the FHFA’s statutes don’t confer criminal investigation authority on the politically-appointed director; the authority to conduct such investigations is the OIG’s. Here, OIG’s own policies for criminal referrals were clearly not followed.
The new disclosures come amid Democracy Forward’s ongoing litigation—Democracy Forward Foundation v. Federal Housing Finance Agency—filed on October 20, 2025, after FHFA failed to produce records in response to five separate FOIA requests. The lawsuit seeks to compel the release of communications between Pulte, the FHFA, and DOJ, as well as any internal discussions about the politically charged referrals.
The newly released records are available here, and the original lawsuit is here.
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