FHFA Director Bill Pulte Faces GAO Probe Into Mortgage Fraud Referrals
A congressional watchdog agency opened an investigation into Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The Government Accountability Office opened the inquiry in response to a letter from eight Senate Democrats asking the GAO to investigate any actions from Pulte related to recent revelations about the mortgage status of a Federal Reserve governor and critics of President Donald Trump.
"I can confirm that GAO has accepted this request following our standard process," a GAO spokesperson told NBC News, which first reported the investigation’s status.
"The first thing GAO does as any work begins is to determine the full scope of what we will cover and the methodology to be used," the spokesperson said. "This can take a few months, and until that is done, we cannot provide any estimates on a completion date."
The senators’ letter specifically asked the GAO to look into actions related to recent mortgage fraud referrals to the Department of Justice against New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Rep. Eric Swalwell.
The FHFA declined Bisnow's request to comment.
Pulte first made mortgage fraud allegations against Cook in August, posting pictures to his more than 3 million followers on X of two seemingly matching signatures from what Pulte said were two of Cook’s mortgage documents, where she claims multiple addresses as her primary home.
Pulte spent days attacking Cook and eventually said he made a criminal referral to the Justice Department, which said it opened a criminal investigation into Cook on Sept. 4.
The signatures match. Does Jerome Powell support mortgage fraud? pic.twitter.com/fzxU9vcKra
— Pulte (@pulte) August 20, 2025
Trump tried to fire Cook on Aug. 25, but she said he lacked the authority to oust her and refused to step down. The case is now before the Supreme Court.
The allegations came ahead of a Fed meeting and as both Pulte and the president were calling for officials to cut rates, with Cook expected to vote to hold them flat. Pulte has sent similar referrals regarding James, Schiff and Swalwell, a California Democrat and Pulte’s most recent target.
Pulte, who for years has been an ardent defender of Trump online, has been a defining force at FHFA and the government-sponsored entities it oversees, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Since taking the top spot, he’s shaken up the boards of directors — including appointing himself as chairman at both agencies — and has fired dozens of staff, accusing some of fraud and leading some of the ousted employees to file a class-action lawsuit. Priscilla Almodovar also abruptly left her post as Fannie Mae CEO in October.
Pulte pushed out multiple officials after they complained internally that Fannie Mae Head of Marketing Lisa Smith, a confidant of Pulte, provided confidential mortgage pricing data to a principal competitor on Pulte’s behalf, The Associated Press reported.
Pulte also drew bipartisan scorn after pitching the president on the idea of a 50-year mortgage that Trump seemed to embrace, and anonymous reports have leaked from the White House saying the FHFA head was becoming a liability for the president.
