Pam Bondi authorizes Ed Martin as special prosecutor over mortgage fraud probes against Adam Schiff, Letitia James
Martin reportedly met with Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency Director, on Friday morning.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has appointed Ed Martin, the former interim US attorney for Washington DC, as a special prosecutor to investigate Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James over allegations of mortgage fraud.
A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that a grand jury out of the Eastern District of Virginia will investigate the mortgage fraud allegations against James, while a Maryland grand jury will investigate the allegations against Schiff.
Martin reportedly met with Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency Director, on Friday morning. Pulte sent the criminal referral regarding Schiff to the Department of Justice in May. Pulte sent the James referral in April.
In his referral, Pulte accused James of having “falsified records” to get a home loan in Virginia while she was still serving as the New York state AG.The criminal referral read in part, “Based on media reports, Ms. Letitia James has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms. This has potentially included 1) falsifying residence status for a Norfolk, Virginia-based home in order to secure a lower mortgage rate and 2) misrepresenting property descriptions to meet stringent requirements for government backed loans and government assistance.”
Schiff was accused of altering banking documents and property records to secure more favorable loan terms, claiming that both his Burbank and Maryland homes were his primary residences. Director William Pulte wrote, “Based on media reports, Mr. Adam B. Schiff has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, impacting payments from 2003-2019 for a Potomac, Maryland-based property.”
This comes as the Department of Justice has also launched a grand jury investigation into James over her office’s civil fraud cases against Trump, his businesses, and the National Rifle Association, and whether those cases violated the defendants’ legal rights.