Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte has referred New York Attorney General Letitia James to the U.S. Department of Justice for a second time, now alleging she may have falsified information on a homeowner's insurance application. Pulte asked U.S. Attorneys in Florida and Illinois to "authenticate and investigate" the allegations, according to letters reviewed by Just the News.
This is not the first time the FHFA chief, who oversees Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, has flagged James for DOJ scrutiny. And it is not the first time James has dismissed such actions as political. But the documentary trail Pulte is citing keeps growing, and the questions it raises about the state's top law enforcement officer are not going away.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney Jason Quinones, Pulte referenced a court exhibit involving an insurance application submitted to a Fort Lauderdale-based company. That application, according to Pulte, indicated James claimed her Virginia home would be unoccupied for five months each year. Testimony reportedly indicated, however, that James's niece, Nakia Thompson, lived in the property rent-free for several years. Pulte wrote that it "appears Ms. James made false representations" about the occupancy status, asserting the home was in fact occupied year-round.
In a separate letter to U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, Pulte cited another document suggesting James may have represented that only one adult would occupy the home, despite reports that Thompson lived there with three children.
Pulte did not hedge his conclusion to Boutros.
It appears Ms. James may have defrauded the Illinois-based insurance company.
He requested a formal investigation. Pulte also cited social media posts by attorney Mike Davis, who argued that previously published court documents suggest James may have misled her home insurer when applying for coverage.
In April of the previous year, Pulte sent a similar letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy Todd Blanche. That referral alleged James falsified bank documents and property records to obtain government-backed loans and more favorable terms. One allegation claimed James listed a home in Norfolk, Virginia as her primary residence despite being required to reside in New York as a state official.
That first referral eventually led to action. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted James on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, meaning she was formally accused of lying to a bank in connection with a financial transaction. The case, however, was dismissed after a judge ruled that prosecutor Lindsay Halligan was not lawfully appointed. The merits of the allegations were never decided, and the grand jury declined to issue a new indictment.
James responded to those earlier charges by accusing Donald Trump and his administration of "weaponizing the justice system" and describing the charges as baseless. Her office did not respond to requests for comment on the latest referral.
The New York Attorney General, one of the most prominent critics of Donald Trump, brought a civil fraud case against Trump and his company in 2022, resulting in a $464 million judgment over allegations of asset inflation. She has filed multiple lawsuits against him.
But James is not the only high-profile Democrat to face referrals from Pulte. In July, Pulte referred Senator Adam Schiff for possible violations including wire fraud, mail fraud, and false statements, alleging Schiff listed two homes, one in Maryland and one in California, as primary residences. Schiff was never charged.
In November, Pulte referred Representative Eric Swalwell for investigation over alleged mortgage and tax fraud tied to a Washington, D.C. property. Swalwell sued Pulte, alleging violations of privacy laws and the First Amendment, but subsequently dropped the lawsuit. As Swalwell now runs for governor of California, businessman Tom Steyer has cited these allegations in challenging his eligibility, arguing that residency requirements should be enforced.
The U.S. Attorneys in Florida and Illinois now hold the referral letters. Investigators will need to determine whether the insurance applications contain materially false statements, whether the occupancy representations James allegedly made were contradicted by the actual living arrangements at the Virginia property, and whether those alleged misrepresentations rise to criminal conduct. Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether either U.S. Attorney's office has opened a formal investigation.
The prior indictment collapsed on a procedural defect, not on the facts. The merits were never tested. Now Pulte is pressing the issue again with new allegations and new documents pointed at two additional federal prosecutors. For an attorney general who has built her career on holding others accountable for alleged financial misrepresentations, the growing stack of referral letters presents a straightforward question the justice system will eventually have to answer on the merits: Did New York's top law enforcement officer tell the truth on her own paperwork, or didn't she?
