Trump picks Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief
President Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped Bill Pulte, who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director of national intelligence, putting the vast U.S. intelligence community in the hands of a loyalist targeting the president’s enemies.
Trump’s current DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, announced last month that she would resign from her position effective June 30.
Trump wrote that Pulte, who had no previous experience in an intelligence role, would retain his current titles as FHFA director and chairman of mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Real Social post announces the election.
Trump had previously announced that Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas would take over as acting DNI following Gabbard’s departure.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on when Pulte’s tenure at DNI would begin and whether Lukas would remain in his current role.
“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive issues in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and has over $10 Trillion in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a significant increase from just 12 months ago,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.
From his normally low-profile seat at the top of the housing regulator, Pulte sparked a firestorm of controversy by raising allegations of mortgage-related abuse against many of Trump’s political opponents.
Pulte last year filed criminal charges against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for mortgage fraud based on allegations that Cook simultaneously claimed two different properties as her primary residence.
Trump, who has long called for the Fed to lower interest rates and often complained about the central bank’s refusal to act, tried to fire Cook based on the mortgage allegations.
Cook sued to stop his firing; His case is currently pending in the Supreme Court.
Pulte also filed criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly falsifying bank documents and property records in connection with a home mortgage she took out in 2020.
James was charged in October with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. A federal judge in November dismissed the case after ruling that former Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney who brought the indictment, was invalidly appointed.
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