Justice Department investigating handling of federal mortgage fraud cases on Schiff, James: report

The Justice Department is reportedly looking into whether two Trump administration officials have interfered with federal investigations into potential mortgage fraud by two prominent Democrats, sources familiar with the matter have told several news outlets.

The department and FBI are scrutinizing whether U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte enlisted people outside the DOJ to probe allegations of mortgage fraud amid ongoing investigations of California Democrat Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to ABC News.

At least one witness in the Schiff investigation has received a grand jury subpoena to hand over any correspondence with Pulte and Martin's associates, sources also told the news outlet. 

The Schiff case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Greenbelt, Maryland. The office and the Federal Housing Finance Agency inspector general are also involved in examining the handling of the mortgage fraud investigations, according to CNN.  

The allegations, if true, could jeopardize the federal cases against Schiff and James.

An aide to Martin referred ABC News to the Justice Department's press office for comment.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department told ABC News, "Anonymous sources seeking to spin or influence ongoing processes do a disservice to the public and to the rule of law.”

Representatives for Pulte, Strauss, and Bish did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. An attorney for Schiff did not respond to a request for comment. Attorneys for James, whom the DOJ indicted in October for alleged mortgage fraud, declined to comment. 

Whether people outside of the DOJ were involved in Schiff case reportedly centers on Christine Bish, a California politician and real estate agent who first publicized the allegations of mortgage fraud against the lawmaker, related to a home he has in California and one he has in Maryland. 

FBI agents working on the case reportedly discovered the potential problem when they tried to interview Bish.

When FBI agents first made contact with her, Bish reportedly expressed confusion about why federal investigators wanted to speak with her again, considering she had repeatedly spoken with a man she believed worked for the DOJ as Martin's lead investigator.

Bish told CNN she traveled to Greenbelt on Thursday morning in response to a grand jury subpoena. Bish said she spoke to federal investigators inside the courthouse who asked her about people who told her they were working with Trump administration officials leading the mortgage probes.

“I expected to be asked questions, a lot of questions, about, ’How did you come about investigating Adam Schiff and what were your findings?” Bish told the Associated Press. “What they wanted to know was if I was in communication with Ed Martin or Director Pulte – and I was not.”

Prosecutors are also looking into whether grand jury material in the James case was illegally shared with people who were not authorized to review it, sources told CNN. James has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.