Trump official refers Swalwell to Justice Department over alleged mortgage and tax fraud
Washington — A Trump administration official has referred California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell to the Justice Department over alleged tax and mortgage fraud, sources told CBS News.
The official, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, has leveled similar accusations against several other officials, including Democrats New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Sen. Adam Schiff, and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
James was indicted on one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution last month and pleaded not guilty. James' attorneys have argued the case is politically motivated, saying the administration is targeting her for her role in bringing civil fraud charges against President Trump in New York.
Mr. Trump moved to fire Cook in August after Pulte accused her of making misrepresentations on mortgage documents. But Cook filed a lawsuit arguing her removal was unlawful, and the Supreme Court will hear arguments in January on whether Mr. Trump can fire her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
The allegations against Swalwell are connected to a property in Washington, D.C., the sources said. The Justice Department had no comment. NBC News first reported the referral.
In a statement, Swalwell delivered an appeal to President Trump to "do better. Be better."
"As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him, the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me," he said in a statement. "Like James Comey and John Bolton, Adam Schiff and Lisa Cook, Letitia James and the dozens more to come — I refuse to live in fear in what was once the freest country in the world."
Swalwell filed a civil lawsuit against Mr. Trump in March 2021 over his actions relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. In the suit, the California Democrat accuses the president of inciting the violence at the Capitol with his tweets and speech outside the White House on the morning of Jan. 6, in violation of federal civil rights laws and D.C. law. The case has continued to move forward in the federal district court in Washington.
Swalwell said in his statement that he would not end his lawsuit against the president.
"And I will not stop speaking out against the president and speaking up for Californians," he continued.
Swalwell has been a vocal critic of Mr. Trump and served as an impeachment manager during Mr. Trump's second impeachment trial, which stemmed from the Jan. 6 attack. He confirmed to CBS News in June that he took out a liability insurance policy to protect himself due to concerns of potential legal risk during Mr. Trump's second term.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries defended Swalwell as a "principled legislator" and called the referral "laughable."
"Bill Pulte is nothing more than a malignant hack who is abdicating his responsibility to help everyday Americans afford a home, and is instead wasting taxpayer dollars on baseless investigations into Donald Trump's perceived political enemies," Jeffries said in a statement. "Pulte knows what he is doing is lawless, which is why he fired the Acting Inspector General and Fannie Mae ethics officers who were investigating whether he was inappropriately accessing the mortgage details of Democratic officials."
