FHFA Director Bill Pulte Allegedly Purges Ethics Staff Over Probe

Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Bill Pulte is accused of improperly accessing the mortgage documents of Democratic officials, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Adam Schiff, and Lisa Cook. An internal investigation by Fannie Mae's ethics and investigations group sought to determine if Pulte bypassed proper procedures to obtain these records. The inquiry was eventually escalated to FHFA Acting Inspector General Joe Allen and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Following these events, Fannie Mae laid off 62 employees, including chief ethics officer Suzanne Libby and general counsel Danielle McCoy. While the company cited anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures for the cuts, reports suggest the move was a foil to dismantle the ethics team. Additionally, Acting Inspector General Joe Allen was asked to step down. Pulte has attributed the terminations to the officials' involvement in DEI projects, while an FHFA spokesperson dismissed reports of the probe as fabricated.

U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who received the ethics findings, is accused of forwarding the information to the White House to avoid discovery. Halligan denied the claims and subsequently indicted Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud and James Comey for allegedly lying to Congress; both have pleaded not guilty.