DOJ is not probing pardon attorney Ed Martin, housing regulator over Schiff mortgage, source says

The Justice Department is not investigating its chief pardon attorney Ed Martin or top housing regulator Bill Pulte for their role in probing Sen. Adam Schiff, and a recent grand jury subpoena was simply designed to secure documents about Schiff’s mortgages and ascertain their origins, a source with direct knowledge of the probe told Just the News on Sunday.

The source -- as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi’s former chief of staff -- directly disputed reports in The Associated Press, CNN, MSNOW and other legacy media last week suggesting that a grand jury was probing the conduct of Martin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte in pursuing mortgage and bank fraud allegations against the California Democrat senator.

Those reports were prompted by revelations that Christine Bish, an activist who filed an ethics complaint against Schiff alleging he illegally claimed two homes as his primary residence, that she received a subpoena seeking information on her role in the scandal.

“Ed Martin and Bill Pulte are not being investigated by a grand jury,” the source told Just the News on condition of anonymity because he or she was not authorized to talk to the news media. “The Bish subpoena related to documents relevant to the Adam Schiff mortgage fraud investigation.”

Chad Mizelle, who recently departed as Bondi’s chief of staff, took to social media likewise to challenge a report by MSNOW contributor Ken Dilanian that government officials were being investigated in the Schiff probe.

“Completely wrong,” Mizelle wrote on X. “DOJ knows that when it indicts Schiff, he will immediately attack the evidence. Say it’s tainted. Argue about the chain of custody. Say the prosecution is improper. So what does a smart prosecutor do? Figure out exactly who is talking to who so there are no surprises. 

“DOJ isn’t investigating their own. They are getting ready to drop a bomb on Adam Schiff,” Mizelle added.

Pulte this summer sent a criminal referral to DOJ alleging that Schiff, D-Calif., may have violated several statutes — including government wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and false statements to a financial institution — by claiming two homes, one in Maryland and the other in California, as primary residences. 

"Based on media reports, Mr. Adam B. Schiff has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, impacting payments from 2003-2019 for a Potomac, Maryland-based property," wrote Pulte, who leads the agency that oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System. 

“As regulator of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, we take very seriously allegations of mortgage fraud or other criminal activity. Such misconduct jeopardizes the safety and soundness of FHFA’s regulated entities and the security and stability of the U.S. mortgage market,” Pulte also wrote in the referral, which was obtained by Just the News. 

You can read the referral below: 

Referral_Letter_May_27__002_.pdf

Schiff has denied the allegations, claimed they are political retribution and started a legal defense fund.

Last year, Just the News reported that then-Congressman Schiff had repeatedly declared in mortgage and election filings that both of his homes were his "principal residence." But, according to the federally-backed lender Freddie Mac, Americans are only allowed to claim just one home as a primary residence, the one where they live for a majority of the year. 

In at least three instances, documents show that in 2009 and again in 2011 and 2013, Schiff refinanced his Maryland home and declared it was his “principal residence” at the same time he had declared his principal residence was in California, according to 2009 and 2011 financing docs for his Burbank condo.

The conflicting declarations were not resolved until 2020 when Schiff suddenly changed the notations on his Maryland mortgage to be a secondary residence. 

The referral concludes that Schiff appeared to falsify records in order to receive both favorable treatment for loans and tax benefits in his home state of California that amounted to thousands of dollars in savings. “Primary residence mortgages receive more favorable loan terms, including lower interest rates, than secondary residence mortgages,” Pulte wrote. 

Additionally, Schiff also took a homeowner’s tax exemption on his Burbank, California property by claiming it as his primary residence for a $7,000 reduction in the property tax, according to Pulte.