A Trump administration official referred Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell of California to the Justice Department over mortgage fraud allegations, reports say.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte made the allegation. Pulte is currently under fire for suggesting 50-year mortgage plans, which conservatives say will cause homeowners to pay more in interest while taking longer to build equity. Politico reported the White House was frustrated with Pulte for blindsiding it by going public with the mortgage idea.
Pulte has also made mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Sen. Adam Schiff.
“For years, Rep. Swalwell has often preached that ‘no one is above the law’ to defend his relentless obsession with President [Donald] Trump and his allies,” said Kyle Brosnan, vice president of legal at the Oversight Project. “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Time will tell if the Justice Department takes the case.”
The Justice Department has not confirmed if it received the referral.
Swalwell called the situation “nonsense” on CNN.
“It’s not going to shake me,” he said. “The other individuals, Schiff, James, [Lisa] Cook, and myself, we’re not going to hide under the bed, we’re not going to be silent or go away—we’re going to hold a lawless president accountable.”
Swalwell is a long-time Trump opponent. In 2021, he sued Trump, saying his speech before Jan. 6 invoked violence.
“As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him,” Swalwell said, “the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me.”
The DOJ declined The Daily Signal’s request for comment.
