联邦住房金融管理局（FHFA）局长比尔·普尔特去年表示，该机构——负责监管联邦抵押贷款机构房利美和房地美——已发起一场广泛的“打击抵押贷款欺诈”行动。这一说法从未令人信服。普尔特宣布这一行动前，曾因敦促司法部起诉包括美联储理事丽莎·库克、纽约州检察长莱蒂蒂亚·詹姆斯和参议员亚当·希夫（加州民主党人）在内的官员而受到批评，理由是他们过去的抵押贷款申请中存在涉嫌不实之处。
Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said last year that the agency, which oversees federal mortgage regulators Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, had launched a wide “mortgage-fraud crackdown.”That was never a persuasive claim. Pulte announced his campaign after drawing criticism for urging the Justice Department to prosecute officials including Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, New York Attorney Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), over alleged inaccuracies in past mortgage applications.
他的攻击目标几乎全是民主党人——库克的情况则是民主党任命的官员——这些人都是唐纳德·特朗普总统此前曾发生冲突的对象。
His targets were almost all Democrats—or, in Cook’s case, a Democratic appointee—who President Donald Trump had previously clashed with.
普尔特的削减措施“将消除我们有效开展涉及FHFA监管实体的抵押贷款、银行及其他欺诈计划刑事调查的能力。”但普尔特所谓的打击抵押贷款欺诈行动现在看起来更不可信了。周三，他宣布大幅削减FHFA监察长办公室的预算。据报道，该办公室正在调查普尔特本人的涉嫌不当行为。但该办公室还包括数十名特别探员，他们的职责是“发现、调查并移交起诉涉及房利美和房地美的抵押贷款欺诈和其他犯罪”，FHFA代理首席副监察长詹姆斯·霍奇周三在致国会监督委员会成员的信中表示。
Pulte’s cuts “will eliminate our capacity to effectively conduct criminal investigation of mortgage, bank, and other fraud schemes involving the entities FHFA regulates.”But Pulte’s supposed crackdown on mortgage fraud looks a lot less plausible now. On Wednesday, he announced deep cuts to the office of the Inspector General at the FHFA. That office is reportedly investigating Pulte’s own alleged misconduct. But it also includes dozens of special agents who work to “detect, investigate, and refer for prosecution mortgage fraud and other crimes” involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FHFA Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General James Hodge told congressional oversight committee members in a letter Wednesday.
霍奇写道：“普尔特的削减措施‘将消除我们有效开展涉及FHFA监管实体的抵押贷款、银行及其他欺诈计划刑事调查的能力。’”他表示，将不得不解雇约40名调查人员，这些人员曾帮助该办公室获得1200多起刑事定罪，并追回近750亿美元资金。
Pulte’s cuts “will eliminate our capacity to effectively conduct criminal investigation of mortgage, bank, and other fraud schemes involving the entities FHFA regulates,” Hodge wrote. He said he would have to lay off about 40 investigators who have helped the office secure more than 1,200 criminal convictions and recover nearly $75 billion since.
周四，普尔特在一份新闻稿中解释削减监察长预算的理由时辩称，与其他联邦机构的监察长办公室相比，该办公室的预算在占机构总支出的百分比方面相对更高。
press release Thursday, Pulte explained slashing the IG’s budget by arguing that it was relatively more expensive than comparable inspector general offices at other federal agencies as a percentage of overall agency spending.
该公告未提及普尔特所谓的打击抵押贷款欺诈行动，也未提及解雇调查人员将如何影响该行动。该机构新闻办公室周四未回应有关此事的提问。
The announcement did not mention Pulte’s purported crackdown on mortgage fraud, or how firing investigators would affect that effort. The agency’s press office did not respond Thursday to questions on the subject.
参议院银行委员会的民主党人周四要求普尔特撤销该举措，称这些削减将“使监察长办公室无法对该机构和美国抵押贷款市场进行监督”。
Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee demanded on Thursday that Pulte reverse the move, that the cuts would “make it impossible” for the Inspector General’s office to oversee the agency and the US mortgage market.
资深民主党议员周四表示，普尔特“应该辞职，如果他不辞职，国会必须追究他的责任”。“您的决定不可接受，这又是该政府无视法律、逃避问责的一个例证。这也表明联邦住房金融管理局（FHFA）对查找和消除抵押贷款欺诈不感兴趣——这是您曾反复声称在联邦住房金融管理局优先解决的问题，”议员们写道。
Top Democrats said Thursday that Pulte “should resign, and if he does not, Congress must hold him accountable.”“Your decision is unacceptable and yet another example of this Administration’s willingness to flout the law and evade accountability. It also indicates that FHFA is uninterested in finding and eliminating mortgage fraud—an issue that you have repeatedly claimed to prioritize at FHFA,” the lawmakers wrote.
参议院少数党领袖舒默、众议院少数党领袖杰弗里斯及其他资深民主党人周四表示，普尔特利用职权以涉嫌抵押贷款欺诈为由针对特朗普政敌的做法基本以失败告终。在他的敦促下，联邦检察官确实起诉了詹姆斯，这位纽约州检察长在2024年赢得了一起民事诉讼，判令特朗普的公司偿还4.5亿多美元的不当所得资金及利息。一名法官后来在裁定提起诉讼的特朗普助手的任命非法后，驳回了对詹姆斯的指控。
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and other top Democrats said Thursday Pulte’s efforts to target Trump foes for alleged mortgage fraud has largely failed. Federal prosecutors, at his urging, did indict James, the New York Attorney General who in 2024 won a civil case requiring Trump’s companies to pay back more than $450 million in wrongly obtained funds and interest. A judge later threw out the case against James after ruling the appointment of the Trump aide who brought the case was illegal.
据报道，普尔特也曾针对一名共和党人——检察长托德·布兰奇。但据《纽约时报》报道，普尔特是在这位前特朗普律师（时任副司法部长）批评普尔特针对民主党人的行动后，才调查布兰奇的抵押贷款情况。
Pulte reportedly targeted one Republican, Attorney General Todd Blanche. But according to the , Pulte looked into Blanche’s mortgages after the former Trump lawyer, at the time the deputy attorney general, criticized Pulte’s efforts targeting Democrats.
普尔特利用职权推进党派恩怨从未掩饰过。政府问责办公室（GAO）表示，正在调查普尔特是否滥用职权获取特朗普政敌的抵押贷款信息。
Pulte’s efforts to use his office to advance partisan vendettas have never been subtle. The Government Accountability Office has it is investigating whether Pulte misused his position to access mortgage information on Trump foes.
然而，随着普尔特着手解雇那些负责调查真实房贷欺诈行为的联邦雇员，这位特朗普的忠实支持者针对民主党官员的动机也变得比以往任何时候都更加明显。
But as Pulte moves to fire the federal employees who look into actual mortgage fraud, the Trump loyalist’s motivations targeting Democratic officials are clearer than ever.