US ethics officials removed for inquiring into improper access of mortgage files | Trump administration

Ethics officials at Fannie Mae were fired from their jobs as they investigated whether a top Trump ally, Letitia James, the New York attorney general and other Democratic officials improperly accessed mortgage documents. Wall StreetJournal It was reported on Tuesday.

William Pulte, Trump’s staunch defender and head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), accused James, California senator Adam Schiff and federal reserve governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud. All three have denied the charges, and James was indicted last month on federal misdemeanor charges.

Experts have raised questions about all three referrals and view them as a thinly veiled effort by Trump to target his political rivals.

After Pulte made the referrals, former agency officials and experts told the Guardian they were highly unusual. Individualized mortgage data is highly sensitive and protected. Investigations into mortgage fraud are generally not conducted by the FHFA inspector general, an agency watchdog staffed by investigative agents.

Ethics and internal investigation officials at mortgage finance provider Fannie Mae received internal complaints that top officials at FHFA ordered employees to access mortgage documents for James and others, the Journal reported Tuesday. They forwarded their investigation to the inspector general’s office, which then forwarded it to the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. Trump appointed his ally Lindsey Halligan to the post last month.

According to a person familiar with the matter, Halligan was unhappy that information that could have been part of discovery was sent to James’ lawyers and that he forwarded that communication to the White House. Halligan told the Guardian on Tuesday evening that that description was inaccurate and refused to pass the information on to the White House.

“This is nothing more than Fake News from people trying to obstruct the criminal justice system,” an FHFA spokesperson said in a statement. The justice department did not immediately return a request for comment.

Joe Allen, who served as acting inspector general. it was He was asked to resign from his post. The inspector general’s website currently says the office is empty.

About a dozen Fannie Mae’s ethics and internal investigations staff were fired last month, the Journal reported; among them was Suzanne Libby, the agency’s ethics chief. According to the Journal, the agency’s general counsel, Danielle McCoy, resigned due to pressure.

The FHFA inspector general’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.