Exclusive: Trump official bypassed ethics rules in criminal referrals of Fed governor and other foes, sources say

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The Trump appointee accusing the president’s political foes of mortgage fraud skipped over his agency’s inspector general when making criminal referrals, according to seven people familiar with the matter, bypassing rules meant to ensure that federal officials don’t abuse their power for partisan purposes.

Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, earlier this year made criminal referrals against targets including Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor whom President Donald Trump has tried to dismiss, for alleged crimes related to their mortgages. Breaking with standard procedures, Pulte circumvented that agency’s internal watchdog, typically the office that would make such referrals, by asking the Justice Department to investigate Cook and two other prominent officials......

Pulte’s actions, legal experts told Reuters, violate various ethics norms and regulations. In addition to “impartiality” rules designed to ensure government officials remain unbiased in decisionmaking, the experts said it could flout the agency’s own procedures, protections under the Privacy Act, and the constitutional right to due process under the Fifth Amendment.

Because ethics rules can be subject to interpretation and to an administration’s willingness to enforce them, however, it’s unclear whether Pulte’s actions will undermine his accusations of mortgage fraud or affect his authority as agency director. Trump himself has praised Pulte, lauding him in one social media post, writing: “DON’T LET THE RADICAL LEFT WEAKLINGS STOP YOU!”

The president’s push to target political opponents with criminal prosecution has intensified. In late September, a grand jury indicted James Comey, the former FBI director and longtime object of Trump criticism, in an alleged perjury case. The indictment arrived shortly after Trump in a social media post called on the attorney general to prosecute him.



Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-official-bypassed-ethics-rules-criminal-referrals-fed-governor-other-foes-2025-10-06

Exclusive: Trump official bypassed ethics rules in criminal referrals of Fed governor and other foes, sources say reut.rs/4qfoN3F

— Reuters (@reuters.com) 2025-10-06T19:50:13Z