The source for the mortgage fraud criminal referral made by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte against Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), a longtime political foe of President Trump, has been identified as a right-wing news site.
A review of government emails by Reuters has traced the roots of the criminal referral to a Nov. 12 article published by The Gateway Pundit that alleged Swalwell improperly listed his home in Washington, DC, as his “principal residence” on mortgage paperwork.
Pulte sent a link to this article to the FHFA’s acting inspector general, calling on him to follow up on the information “including – if warranted – engagement with the Department of Justice regarding potential mortgage, tax or other fraud related to the representations made in mortgage documents or other items in the below article.” But rather than wait for the acting inspector general to follow through, Pulte referred the issue that same day to the Department of Justice, according to an unnamed “source familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.”
The Swalwell criminal referral followed similar actions taken by Pulte against prominent Democrats including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff of California, and Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook. Pulte has been mum on the inspiration for these referrals, curtly claiming they were based on tips without identifying the sources of this information.
Swalwell countered the criminal referrals by filing a direct lawsuit against Pulte, who is also the subject of a Government Accountability Office investigation into whether he overstepped his authority in making these criminal referrals. To date, only James has been indicted, but that case was dismissed in a ruling that determined prosecutor Lindsey Galligan was improperly appointed by the Trump administration. Two subsequent grand juries refused to bring new indictments against James.
