For weeks, Bill Pulte has been one of the loudest voices contained in the Trump administration calling for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to resign.
Now Pulte — a rich businessman turned Federal Housing Finance Agency Director, whose official remit seemingly has little connection to the Federal Reserve — has set in movement President Donald Trump’s most aggressive motion but to change the longer term make-up and independence of the Fed’s Board of Governors, the consequential physique that helps set rates of interest.
Trump mentioned Monday that he was dismissing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook as a result of of allegations of mortgage fraud that Pulte despatched to the Justice Department final week.
Trump’s choice to attempt to hearth Cook — organising a potential legal battle on the Supreme Court —marked essentially the most consequential instance but of how Pulte has change into an unlikely political assault canine in opposition to the Federal Reserve and plenty of of Trump’s perceived political enemies.
Pulte has 3 million followers on X and a social media profile practically as lively because the president’s. He’s waged an aggressive, multi-faceted marketing campaign on social media and cable tv in opposition to the Fed chair as Trump has fumed over Powell’s choice to not decrease rates of interest. And he’s even unfold false rumors on official company letterhead that Powell’s resignation can be imminent.
But maybe essentially the most consequential motion Pulte has taken is sending three legal referrals for alleged mortgage fraud to the Justice Department, sparking investigations into Cook and two longtime Democratic foils of Trump: California Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James — who’ve each denied wrongdoing and referred to as the strikes politically motivated.
The Justice Department is now investigating James, Schiff and Cook following Pulte’s referrals, which accused every of claiming a number of main residences on their mortgages. The probes are being led by Ed Martin, a DOJ official who was named head of the division’s weaponization working group after his affirmation to be US Attorney for the District of Columbia fizzled out.
Pulte touted the unprecedented nature of Cook’s firing on social media in a put up Tuesday: “Trump becomes the first president ever to remove a sitting Federal Reserve governor,” he mentioned, although it isn’t but clear whether or not Trump’s maneuver will succeed.
Pulte alleged in his letter to the Justice Department that Cook claimed two homes as main residences, permitting her to acquire extra favorable rates of interest.
“For the sake of the country, I think she should just resign,” Pulte mentioned on CNBC quickly after.
A NCS review of mortgage paperwork exhibits that Cook took out mortgages for 2 properties, each of which had been listed as her principal residence. However, it’s not recognized why she did so or if she did so deliberately.
Cook has not been formally charged with any wrongdoing. She has not defined the difficulty publicly, however mentioned final week she was “gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts.”
“There can be no mortgage fraud. This came across our desk, and it’s my duty to report it,” Pulte mentioned on CNBC. “It wouldn’t matter if she were a Republican or a Democrat. It is what it is.”
But whereas Pulte has despatched referrals for Schiff, James and Cook, he has not apparently taken any steps in response to a July report from the Associated Press that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed three main residences in mortgage paperwork — which James’ lawyer claimed in a letter was proof the investigations had been politically motivated.
Paxton’s workplace didn’t reply to NCS’s request for remark. Pulte’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for touch upon whether or not the allegations within the AP report are being examined.
Cook, the primary Black girl appointed as a Fed governor, with a time period set to run out in 2038, responded to requires her resignation final week by saying she had “no intention of being bullied.”
Abbe Lowell, who represents Cook and James, mentioned Tuesday that Cook can be submitting a lawsuit difficult her firing and that Trump’s try to dismiss her “lacks any factual or legal basis.”
Pulte reacted to Cook’s claims of bullying in a subsequent TV look on Fox Business touting how a lot consideration the allegations had been receiving. “She can play this all she wants,” he mentioned. “But people are smart. And I’ll tell you this right now — this is like the most viral story in the country right now.”
As director of FHFA, Pulte is within the center of Trump’s stated desire to denationalise the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in addition to an administration proposal to permit homebuyers to use cryptocurrency assets to strengthen their mortgage purposes. (Pulte owns between $500,000 to $1 million in Bitcoin, in keeping with monetary disclosure paperwork.)
Pulte was nominated to steer the FHFA after a profession in personal fairness, in addition to time on the board of his grandfather’s homebuilding firm, PulteGroup. He’s value a minimum of $190 million, in keeping with his monetary disclosures.
Well earlier than he was in authorities, Pulte gained notoriety and a social media following via his philanthropy, which included giving away money and free cars on Twitter. In 2019, he mentioned on Twitter he would give away $30,000 to a navy veteran if he got a retweet from Trump.
Pulte’s affirmation for a five-year time period to run the FHFA in March didn’t decelerate his social media exercise, notably on the subject of the Fed and Powell. Pulte’s relentless assaults in opposition to Powell helped give him an affect with Trump that far surpasses his function overseeing the mortgage giants Fannie and Freddie.
Pulte has repeatedly referred to as for Powell to resign. He’s accused Powell of “conducting economic warfare against America.” He helped to amplify assaults about the associated fee of renovations to the Federal Reserve constructing that Trump leveled in opposition to Powell final month and sparked hypothesis Trump may attempt to hearth the Fed chair. Pulte even accompanied the president and different aides on a tour of the Federal Reserve constructing.
He’s fueled a rumor marketing campaign that Powell may resign, issuing an announcement on company letterhead citing “reports that Jerome Powell is considering resigning” when no such stories existed. He then proceeded to quote information stories on that assertion in one other assertion two days later, saying he was “encouraged” by stories of a doable resignation.
In one of the extra dramatic strikes in opposition to Powell, Pulte drafted a termination letter that Trump would wave in entrance of a gaggle of House Republicans at an Oval Office assembly earlier this month, in keeping with three folks accustomed to the matter.
Trump has cheered his housing director on. “KEEP MOVING FORWARD, WILLIAM, DON’T LET THE RADICAL LEFT WEAKLINGS STOP YOU!” Trump mentioned of Pulte on Truth Social final month.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the highest Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, despatched a letter to Pulte final month chiding him for turning into “distracted from your statutory mission” and centered as a substitute on Powell’s firing, noting he’d posted greater than 100 instances about Powell because the starting of July.
“Your prolific activity on X and apparent decision to take time away from your duties as FHFA Director to draft a letter for President Trump to fire Chair Powell are abnormal,” Warren wrote. “Your behavior raises significant questions about your judgement and commitment to operating FHFA in a responsible, competent, and lawful manner.”
Pulte responded to the letter on X, saying Warren “in her typical hypocritical manner, spends her own days on social media attacking President Trump and others.”
In an op-ed titled “Weaponizing the Housing Regulator,” the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board warned that Pulte’s actions to go after Trump’s enemies had been “an ominous turn in political lawfare.”
“Blasting weighty allegations via social media or leaks is an ugly way for government regulators to behave,” the editorial board wrote.
NCS’s Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.