Top Fannie Mae officials ousted after sounding alarm on sharing confidential housing data

WASHINGTON — A confidant of Bill Pulte, the Trump administration’s top housing regulator, shared confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae with competitor Freddie Mac, alarming senior Fannie Mae officials who warned the disclosure could expose the company to price-fixing allegations.

Internal emails reviewed by The Associated Press reveal that Lauren Smith, Fannie Mae’s head of marketing, acting on Pulte’s behalf, provided the sensitive data despite clear internal prohibitions against such sharing.

“Lauren, the information that was provided to Freddie Mac in this email is a problem,” Malloy Evans, senior vice president of Fannie Mae’s single-family mortgage division, wrote on October 11. “That is confidential, competitive information.”

Evans copied Fannie Mae’s CEO Priscilla Almodovar on the email titled “As Per Director Pulte’s Ask” and requested the company’s top attorney “to weigh in on what, if any, steps we need to take legally to protect ourselves now.”

The fallout was swift but unexpected. While Smith retained her position, Evans, Almodovar, and other senior Fannie Mae officials who questioned the disclosure were forced out of their jobs late last month. Also dismissed were internal ethics watchdogs who had been investigating Pulte and his allies.

The dismissals sent shockwaves through the housing industry and drew sharp criticism from Democrats. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, called it “another example of Bill Pulte weaponizing his role to do Donald Trump’s bidding, instead of working to lower costs amidst a housing crisis.”

“His behavior raises significant questions, and he needs to be brought in front of Congress to answer them,” Warren added.

This controversy highlights Pulte’s pattern of using his typically low-profile federal position to enhance his personal standing and curry favor with President Trump. He has initiated mortgage fraud investigations targeting prominent Democrats who oppose Trump, including Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Representative Eric Swalwell.

In June, Pulte directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop proposals for accepting cryptocurrency in mortgage criteria, aligning with Trump’s support for the digital asset class. Last week, he advocated for 50-year mortgages to the president as a solution for increasing homeownership—a proposal widely criticized by financial experts as dramatically increasing overall loan costs for consumers.

Pulte has also taken aim at major homebuilders, which have drawn Trump’s criticism. “I’m looking at the Fannie Mae builder data and with the top three homebuilders we buy EASILY over $20 billion in THEIR LOANS!” Pulte posted on X in early October, signaling potential regulatory action if construction volumes don’t increase.

When asked about the situation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which Pulte leads, issued a brief statement saying it “requires its regulated entities to carry out their operations in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.” Fannie Mae stated it takes “compliance with the law very seriously” and has “a rigorous program to ensure we follow all laws and regulations.” Pulte and Smith did not respond to requests for comment.

Since his appointment to lead FHFA, the 37-year-old heir to a homebuilding fortune has worked diligently to ingratiate himself with Trump. He and his wife have donated approximately $1 million to Trump’s campaign, according to finance disclosures. Pulte has leveraged his social media presence—including over 3 million followers on X—to attack Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell after Trump sought his removal.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that some of the fired Fannie Mae ethics officials had been investigating whether Pulte improperly obtained mortgage information regarding Letitia James, who was subsequently charged with bank fraud following Pulte’s criminal referral to the Justice Department. James has denied the charges and called them politically motivated.

Pulte’s unusual concentration of power stems from his self-appointment as chairman of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shortly after his Senate confirmation. These government-sponsored enterprises hold trillions in assets and serve as crucial backstops for the mortgage lending industry by purchasing loans from individual lenders, packaging them, and selling them to investors.

The potential conflict of interest among Pulte’s three competing roles became evident following a Trump social media post criticizing homebuilders for “sitting on 2 million empty lots” and asking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to “get Big Homebuilders going.” Pulte quickly responded, “On it.”

To fulfill the president’s request, Pulte directed Smith to gather sensitive market data. A Fannie Mae team compiled confidential mortgage information, which Smith then shared with Freddie Mac—triggering immediate concerns among senior executives at both organizations. Freddie Mac declined to comment on the matter.

Danielle McCoy, Fannie Mae’s general counsel, emphasized in communications that the information Smith provided should “never be shared” as it “could put the company at risk.”

Within days, Almodovar, McCoy, and Evans were terminated. Meanwhile, John Roscoe, a Pulte loyalist and former Trump White House aide, was promoted to co-president of Fannie Mae, and Peter Akwaboah was named acting CEO.

The data collection effort ultimately served Pulte’s political aims. Just one day after the contentious email exchange, Trump posted a graphic to his Truth Social network featuring Fannie Mae’s logo, a list of large homebuilders, and the headline “We Give Them Billions.” Pulte promptly reposted it, further cementing his alignment with the president’s agenda.