Share this article!

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte scrutinized mortgage records connected to Attorney General Todd Blanche while the two officials were at odds over mortgage-fraud referrals involving political figures, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Tuesday.

The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said Pulte examined mortgage information involving Blanche in 2025 after Blanche had questioned aspects of Pulte’s referrals to the Justice Department. The Journal reported that Pulte found no evidence of wrongdoing by Blanche.

Pulte’s attorney disputed that account. The Journal reported that the attorney said Pulte did not access Blanche’s mortgage files. FHFA and Justice Department spokespeople also rejected the suggestion that the episode reflected an improper effort by Pulte to pressure Blanche or the department.

The competing accounts could not be independently resolved by WRE News. FHFA had not issued a public statement addressing the specific allegations on its website as of Tuesday morning.

The episode matters to the housing-finance industry because Pulte leads the federal regulator and conservator overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to FHFA’s official biography, Pulte has served as director since March 14, 2025, and oversees the two government-sponsored enterprises as well as the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

Pulte has made alleged mortgage fraud involving prominent public officials a highly visible part of his tenure. He previously referred allegations involving Sen. Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to federal authorities. Those matters have followed different legal paths, and a referral or allegation is not a finding of fraud.

Tuesday’s Journal report adds a different dimension: whether mortgage information was examined not only in connection with those public referrals but also in connection with a senior Justice Department official involved in evaluating them.

The Journal said Blanche had co-signed a mortgage for his son. A Justice Department spokesperson told the newspaper there was nothing improper about the arrangement. The report said Pulte’s review did not uncover misconduct by Blanche.

The report also described internal tensions surrounding FHFA personnel who examined potential misconduct. It said investigators looking into whether agency resources had been used improperly were later removed. The circumstances and reasons for those personnel actions remain disputed, and WRE News is not treating the report’s characterization as an established agency finding.

FHFA’s authority gives the matter unusual weight for mortgage lenders and the broader housing-finance system. The agency regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks and has served as conservator of Fannie and Freddie since 2008. Together, the institutions under its supervision provide trillions of dollars in funding to U.S. mortgage markets.

No criminal charge or formal finding of misconduct against Pulte was announced in connection with Tuesday’s report. The new development is the Journal’s account of the alleged review of Blanche’s mortgage records and the reported internal conflict surrounding it, not a government determination that Pulte violated a law or agency policy.