Bill Pulte Makes Another Run at Charges for Letitia James

Fourth time’s a charm?

Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte is once again pushing an investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James over her personal finances, MS Now reported. Pulte recently filed criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, calling for an investigation into alleged insurance fraud.

The referrals went to U.S. attorneys based in the states where James’ insurers are located. James is accused of making misrepresentations in home insurance filings, allegations that piggyback off social media posts from a pro-Trump attorney.

Both referrals center on allegations around the occupancy of James’ personal property, be it the people occupying her home or the amount of time her own was occupied.

“Trump and his political enablers keep abusing their power to pursue a vendetta against her by trying to rename, refile, and repeat baseless allegations,” James’ lawyer said in a response to the latest legal development.

The response is rooted in repeated failures to take down James with criminal charges for alleged mortgage fraud.

After social media sabre-rattling by Donald Trump in September, then-acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan presented a case of mortgage fraud to a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan secured an indictment, but a judge tossed the case against James — and a separate case against James Comey — after determining Halligan was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

The cases were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be revived. And revived they nearly were in December, when two separate grand juries convened to hear the case against James, only to decline to bring both to an indictment.

The Trump administration has not been shy in chasing its critics by investigating allegations of bank fraud. Fannie Mae’s ethics and investigation units looked into whether Pulte improperly acquired mortgage records of several officials, including James. After the investigations, however, dozens of ethics and investigative staffers at Fannie were fired or pressured to step down.

For her part, James is a well-known opponent of the president after bringing a massive civil fraud case against Trump and his real estate organization. She is frequently fighting on the other side of the Trump administration’s policy priorities.

— Holden Walter-Warner