Officials accused of mortgage fraud attack Trump’s housing agency chief

Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor whom President Donald Trump has sought to fire, attends a board of governors meeting in Washington, Oct. 24, 2025. On Monday, Nov. 17, Lawyers for Cook rebutted allegations of mortgage fraud and said that a housing official who had levied them had coordinated with the White House to smear the president’s enemies. (Caroline Gutman/The New York Times)

By JONAH E. BROMWICH, MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN and COLBY SMITH

A defense lawyer representing two prominent targets of the White House earlier this week accused an administration housing official, Bill Pulte, of transforming his agency into an arm of President Donald Trump’s revenge campaign.

The lawyer, Abbe D. Lowell, represents the New York attorney general, Letitia James, and a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook. His attack on Pulte came in separate documents related to each case.

In one, a motion to dismiss a criminal case against James, Lowell characterized Pulte’s aggressive championing of the prosecution as so improper that it amounted to “outrageous government conduct” and a violation of James’ Fifth Amendment rights.

Lowell also sent a letter to the Justice Department, which is investigating Cook after Pulte sent two criminal referrals about her mortgage paperwork. In the letter, he said that Pulte had coordinated with the White House to smear the president’s enemies.

In tandem, the documents amounted to a frontal attack on Pulte, highlighting his role at the helm of the once-obscure Federal Housing Finance Agency and the way he has used his access to housing paperwork to cast aspersions on White House targets.

The White House declined to comment. The Justice Department, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Pulte did not respond to requests for comment.

Lowell also disclosed information that may weaken the Justice Department’s case against James. She was indicted in Virginia on accusations of bank fraud related to her classification of a residence in that state as a second home. The case rests in part whether James misrepresented her plans to occupy the home, but an official within Pulte’s agency suggested that there was not clear and convincing evidence of occupancy fraud, according to a chat excerpt included in the filing.

Separately, Pulte has accused Cook of improperly classifying several homes as primary residences. In his letter, Lowell addressed the specifics of the allegations for the first time.

Pulte has become a trusted ally of Trump in part by attacking his adversaries, including Cook, whom Trump has sought to fire to gain greater sway over the Federal Reserve. Pulte also has pursued James; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. He accused all of mortgage fraud.

Pulte has drawn criticism from congressional Democrats for sidestepping the usual process of allowing the agency’s inspector general to investigate such claims of fraud, instead taking it upon himself to make criminal referrals to federal prosecutors.

The agency’s acting inspector general, John Allen, had been looking into aspects of the referrals made by Pulte when he was removed from his post a little over a week ago, a person briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak about it said. Allen returned to his prior job as chief counsel for the agency’s inspector general.

On Monday, a group of Democratic senators led by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for the Government Accountability Office, a watchdog with investigative powers that is not answerable to the Trump administration, to investigate Pulte’s work at the housing agency.

Pulte has said he relied on tips and public information before making his referrals and publicizing some on his X social media account, which has about 3 million followers.

The case against James is the first that Pulte has pushed to result in an indictment, and Lowell is attempting to dismiss it on several grounds. The outrageous government conduct argument was unusual. Such motions typically come in cases in which a defendant is likely to say that he was entrapped by the government into committing a crime.

Rarely used defense motions have become more common as federal judges have become more distrustful of the Justice Department under Trump.

It is unclear whether Pulte’s other accusations will result in indictments or survive scrutiny from judges. Generally, housing and legal experts have said, paperwork errors and household moves can make such cases difficult to pursue.

In the letter related to Cook’s homes, Lowell noted that recent reporting has indicated that Trump administration officials — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — have also identified multiple properties as principal residences in mortgage filings.

“Director Pulte has ignored many of those allegations,” Lowell wrote, adding that those that he had failed to refer “share a commonality — they involve Trump-aligned Republicans.”

In August, Trump seized on Pulte’s allegations and announced he was firing Cook.

She has notched legal victories since, with the Supreme Court siding with lower courts in allowing her to stay on as a governor as her case is litigated. The justices will hear arguments on the case Jan. 21.

Cook’s lawyers have previously been focused on keeping her in her job. But their letter Monday responded directly to Pulte’s suggestion that Cook might have committed crimes by stating in paperwork over the years that she held primary residences in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts.

Cook is being investigated in Michigan and Georgia, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a continuing investigation.

Lowell’s response was systematic. He wrote that she had properly classified two of the three homes, those in Michigan and Massachusetts, as primary residences while living in those states.

He implied that Cook had improperly written in a mortgage application that a Georgia apartment would also be a primary residence. But he said that Cook had also informed the lender that she would be using the condo as a vacation home. The conflicting rationales make it difficult to argue that she was attempting to fool the lender, he wrote.

Trump’s attempt to oust Cook from the Fed marks the most aggressive effort yet to put pressure on the central bank to cut interest rates. He has called for lower borrowing costs, which he believes are crucial to unleashing an economic boom.

When Trump targeted Cook, she quickly retained Lowell, who has made a practice of representing the White House’s enemies. Along with Cook and James, he has also been retained by John Bolton, a former national security adviser to Trump who was recently indicted by the Justice Department; Susan Monarez, the fired director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and several others.