• Key Insight: The Government Accountability Office agreed to investigate Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte at the request of eight Democratic senators, who claim Pulte used his power to target President Trump's political opponents. 
• What's at Stake: Federal government employees are trained extensively on issues related to the public disclosure of private information as a violation of federal privacy laws.
• Supporting Data: The GAO said it will begin the investigation in April.

Bill Pulte, the Trump administration's director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is being investigated by the Government Accountability Office for potentially violating federal privacy laws in his pursuit of mortgage fraud claims against two Democratic politicians and a Federal Reserve Board governor. 

On Thursday, Senate Democrats released a letter from the GAO saying the agency agreed to launch an investigation into whether Pulte misused his power by publicly releasing data and mortgage records of several perceived political enemies of the president: Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Last month a federal judge dismissed the criminal mortgage fraud cases against both James and Schiff due to the unlawful appointment by the president of prosecutor Lindsey Halligan, invalidating the indictments obtained by the Justice Department. 

Pulte set off a firestorm in August when he posted a criminal referral to the Justice Department on X alleging that Cook had committed mortgage fraud by taking out two home loans in 2021 and listing both as primary residences. Similar allegations had been made against Schiff and James. In Cook's case, Pulte posted criminal referrals that FHFA sent to the Department of Justice that included zip codes and part of Cook's home address. Pulte also repeatedly posted four signed mortgage checks with Cook's signature on them.

The public disclosure by Pulte set off a chain of events that culminated in President Trump moving to fire Cook, Cook challenging her dismissal in court and a judge issuing a preliminary injunction allowing her to remain at the Fed for the time being. Pulte has written dozens of tweets about Cook and occupancy fraud, which mortgage experts said is extremely rare and unusual for an FHFA director. 

Last month, eight Senate Democrats asked the GAO to investigate whether the FHFA under Pulte had made any changes to its standards for conducting mortgage fraud investigations.

The investigation was requested by Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Tina Smith, D-Minn.; Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.; and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. 

The lawmakers asked FHFA to release information related to Pulte's investigations, but the agency "failed to respond," Warren's office said in a press release Thursday. 

The two-paragraph GAO letter from A. Nicole Clowers, managing director of congressional relations, said the agency likely will begin the investigation in April. It also will coordinate with the Office of Inspector General "to ensure that we are not duplicating efforts," Clowers said. 

"GAO accepts your request as work that is within the scope of its authority. At the current time we anticipate that staff with the required skills will be available to initiate an engagement in about four months," Clowers wrote. "Closer to the time GAO can start this engagement, or a member of [the] team will contact the staff point of contact to confirm that this request continues to be your priority for us."

The FHFA has considerable insight into mortgage lending, but there are also legal guardrails in place to ensure that the agency or its officials don't use mortgage information in ways that do not comport with the law.

Legal experts have said that Pulte may have violated the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, which holds government employees to strict standards for dealing with and disseminating personal financial information in their possession. Federal civil servants receive extensive training to ensure that individuals' personal information is not disclosed to the public. 

Pulte also may have violated the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978, which outlines the formal procedures for government agencies and officials to access personal financial records, lawyers said. In addition, the U.S. government maintains standards of ethical conduct for employees in the executive branch that prohibits misuse of nonpublic information for financial transactions or private gain.