Federal Housing Financing Agency boss Bill Pulte dodged a reporter’s question about whether his agency is investigating Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the wake of reports of mortgage fraud that echo the Trump administration’s recent accusations against a governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank.
CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Pulte on Squawk Box about mortgage fraud claims made against Paxton, specifically reports by the AP in July that the U.S. Senate hopeful claimed three homes as his primary residence. In doing so, he’s violated the mortgage agreements and locked lower interest rates on the loans.
Pulte refused to comment.
“As I said, unless it’s something that’s either been made public by lawyers like Norm Eisen or in criminal referrals, I’m not going to comment on any specific situation,” Pulte said. “If things are made public or if we decide to make them public, then I will talk about it.”
Pulte appeared on the show to discuss the agency’s investigation into the Trump administration’s moves to dump Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Pulte publicly accused Cook of mortgage fraud, claiming she designated two properties as her primary residence. The accusations provided the basis for Cook’s ouster by Trump, who’s also been exerting his populist political style and appeal in attempts to convince Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.
CNBC’s Sorkin asked Pulte why he’d comment on Cook but not Paxton.
Pulte called the comparison “false” and accused Cook’s lawyers Norm Eisen and Abbe Lowell of politicizing the agency’s work.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re Republican or Democrat,” he said. “We will look at everything, and we are looking at Republicans, Democrats, you name it, if you commit mortgage fraud in this country. With the resources that we have, we’re trying to do as good of a job as we can.”
The allegations come as Paxton wages a primary challenge against U.S. Senator John Cornyn, who’s been the state’s senior senator since 2002.
In the first three months of the race, Cornyn outraised Paxton by $1 million, the Texas Tribune reported. But, real estate is split, with heavy hitters like Centurion American’s Mehrdad Moayedi giving to Paxton, while Ross Perot Jr. sticks with Cornyn.
The mortgage fraud accusations aren’t the first controversy Paxton has faced during the campaign.
Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce in July “on biblical grounds,” citing her husband’s adultery, which came to light in 2023, when he was impeached by the Texas House and acquitted by the Senate.
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