Justice Department is examining handling of mortgage fraud investigation into Sen. Adam Schiff

Justice Department Scrutinizes Handling of Schiff Mortgage Fraud Investigation

Federal authorities are examining the management of a mortgage fraud investigation targeting Senator Adam Schiff, focusing specifically on individuals who claimed to be working under the direction of Trump administration officials, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

The investigation has taken an unexpected turn, with authorities now probing the conduct of those pushing the allegations rather than focusing solely on the original mortgage fraud claims against the California Democrat.

On Thursday, investigators in Maryland interviewed Christine Bish, a Republican congressional candidate from California who has actively promoted mortgage fraud allegations against Schiff. Bish received a subpoena seeking information about her communications with Justice Department official Ed Martin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, or anyone claiming to work at their behest.

“I expected to be asked questions about how I came about investigating Adam Schiff and what my findings were,” Bish told the AP. “What they wanted to know was if I was in communication with Ed Martin or Director Pulte—and I was not.”

Bish, a real estate agent who has spent years attempting to draw attention to Schiff’s mortgages on properties in California and Maryland, expressed frustration that investigators seemed more interested in the origins of the probe than in her allegations. “They are trying to, in my opinion, investigate the investigators,” she said.

The shift in focus brings renewed scrutiny to Pulte and Martin’s controversial campaign to investigate Trump political opponents for alleged mortgage fraud. Their efforts have faced criticism due to overstated allegations that were easily disproven and revelations that ethics officials at Pulte’s agency were investigating whether he and his allies improperly accessed mortgage data.

According to a person familiar with the matter, Bish had been contacted multiple times by Robert Bowes, a former Trump administration employee who claimed to work for Pulte. Bowes allegedly asked Bish to investigate mortgages of several individuals and even requested she serve as a source for a purported national news story about mortgages held by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Bowes did not respond to requests for comment.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the investigation, and both Pulte and Martin did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Martin was appointed in August as a special prosecutor to help conduct investigations into Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Prosecutors have also issued subpoenas in a separate mortgage fraud investigation targeting Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, whom Trump has publicly sought to remove from her position. Last week, Pulte referred California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell to the Justice Department for investigation.

All four targets of these investigations have denied the allegations against them.

While the investigation into Schiff continues in Maryland with an unclear status, the probe into James has already resulted in criminal charges in Virginia. She has pleaded not guilty, and her lawyers recently filed a motion criticizing what they described as “outrageous government conduct” leading to her indictment.

Bish told reporters she had previously submitted her research on Schiff to congressional ethics officials without result. After Pulte issued a public call for mortgage fraud tips, she resubmitted her findings to his agency and the FBI. She acknowledged that Pulte left her a voicemail requesting additional information, but maintained she never had a direct conversation with him.

The subpoena Bish received specifically seeks information about communications with Pulte, anyone claiming to be working on his behalf (including his purported chief of staff), or anyone claiming to work for or at the direction of the Justice Department or Martin.

Martin’s appointment has been controversial from the start. He currently serves as director of the Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group” and was tapped to assist with mortgage fraud investigations after his nomination for Washington D.C.’s top federal prosecutor position was withdrawn due to bipartisan concerns about his limited legal experience, divisive politics, and support for January 6 rioters.

Meanwhile, Pulte’s tenure at the Federal Housing Finance Agency has been marked by controversy. The 37-year-old heir to a home construction fortune has sought favor with Trump by publicly targeting the president’s political opponents, but has recently faced a series of setbacks.

Earlier this month, Pulte convinced Trump to endorse a widely criticized 50-year mortgage proposal that economists warned would dramatically increase overall loan costs. He has also disrupted the housing industry by removing ethics officials and top leaders from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored lending giants that hold trillions in assets.

Some of these dismissals targeted officials who were investigating whether Pulte and his associates improperly used non-public mortgage data as the basis for criminal referrals against Schiff and others. Additional Fannie Mae executives were forced out after raising concerns that a Pulte confidant had shared confidential pricing data with competitor Freddie Mac.

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi this week, attorney Abbe Lowell, representing James and Cook, suggested Pulte himself might warrant investigation. “These improprieties by Director Pulte may be grounds for your agency or others in the government to review his conduct,” Lowell wrote. “I am pointing them out because they undercut his criminal referrals.”