GAO opens investigation into Trump ally FHFA chief Bill Pulte

The Government Accountability Office, an independent and nonpartisan investigative watchdog for Congress, says it has opened an investigation into Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.

In November, top Senate Democrats wrote to the agency asking that it “promptly investigate recent actions undertaken at the Federal Housing Finance Agency” by Pulte.

Specifically, actions related to “recent referrals of New York Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and Congressman Eric Swalwell to the U.S. Department of Justice for mortgage fraud.”

All the officials that Pulte has referred to the Justice Department have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

“I can confirm that GAO has accepted this request following our standard process,” a GAO spokesperson told NBC News.

“The first thing GAO does as any work begins is to determine the full scope of what we will cover and the methodology to be used,” the spokesperson added. “This can take a few months, and until that is done, we cannot provide any estimates on a completion date.

The FHFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pulte has repeatedly faced questions about how the mortgage documents that he used in his referrals came to light. In an exchange on CNBC in September, Pulte said he received a “tip” but refused to disclose where it came from.

“I’m not going to explain our sources and methods,” he said at the time. “We make referrals almost every day. Lisa Cook happened to be one of them.”

Since becoming the FHFA director, Pulte has used what is normally a little-noticed role to become an outspoken critic of several Democratic elected officials whom President Donald Trump has targeted, as well as both a governor and the chair of the Federal Reserve.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates quickly enough. Cook is a Fed governor who was named to the central bank’s board by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Pulte was one of few officials who accompanied the president on a July visit to the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, an active construction site while the historic buildings are under renovation.

Pulte has also used social media to echo Trump’s attacks on the central bank chief and its board.

In August, Trump moved to fire Cook. In a letter posted to Truth Social, Trump cited a referral from Pulte to Attorney General Pam Bondi. The case is now set to be heard by the Supreme Court in January.

Pulte’s attention-getting behavior has reportedly frustrated some of his fellow administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

In September, Bessent reportedly threatened to punch Pulte in the face when the two men encountered each other at a White House dinner.

Asked about the report on CNBC, Bessent all but admitted it was true. “Treasury secretaries dating back to Alexander Hamilton have a history of dueling,” he said.

“With President Trump’s team, just like any the great sports team, you can argue in the locker room, but we get out in the field and do the best for the President and the American people every day,” said Bessent.