A growing federal investigation is accusing top Trump-appointed officials of attempting to weaponise mortgage fraud probes, and a grand jury in Maryland is now examining whether they violated the law by investigating their own political allies. In a stunning reversal, the very individuals who referred high-profile Democrats for alleged mortgage fraud are now under scrutiny themselves. Sources say a Maryland grand jury has opened a probe into whether Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte and Justice Department special attorney Ed Martin, both staunch Trump allies, improperly recruited unauthorised personnel to aid in investigations of Trump political opponents. Political Retaliation or Investigative Misconduct? The grand jury’s aim, according to people familiar with the matter, is to assess whether Pulte and Martin used their authority to assign outsiders to the probes of Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney-General Letitia James, undermining standard Justice Department procedures. One key witness, Christine Bish, a realtor and former Republican congressional candidate in California, appeared before the grand jury. She told investigators she was puzzled by the line of questioning; rather than focusing on her original mortgage fraud allegations against Schiff, prosecutors seemed obsessed with whether she had links to Pulte or Martin. Bish said, ‘They assured me . that the focus of the investigation was Adam Schiff . but it seemed like they were looking for more stuff that does not exist’. Her testimony raises serious questions about the integrity of the earlier investigations. Weaponising the Justice System? Critics argue the mortgage fraud referrals were less about law enforcement and more about political retaliation. Letitia James, a longtime Trump critic, was indicted in October 2025 after Pulte referred her to the DOJ for allegedly falsifying her address on mortgage applications. James’s legal team fired back, branding the lawsuit a politically motivated ‘weaponisation’ of justice, citing what they describe as ‘illegal and unethical behaviour’ by Trump-aligned officials. They argue that career prosecutors resisted the case, that internal misconduct shielded evidence, and that ethics officials were purged to clear the way. According to court filings, James’s lawyers are demanding access to the grand jury materials, suspecting that exculpatory evidence was withheld. In one dramatic line, they wrote, ‘If this brazen, continuous disregard for the law and the Constitution is not outrageous government conduct, nothing is’. DOJ Protocols Under Fire At the centre of the grand jury inquiry is whether Martín and Pulte overstepped legal boundaries by delegating sensitive investigative work to individuals not formally authorised by the DOJ. Sources claim Martin shared grand jury material with non-federal agents, a possible violation of strict DOJ rules. FBI agents reported confusion when investigating Christine Bish. When they first tried to question her, she allegedly told them she had already spoken with someone she believed was working for Martin, but who was not officially with the DOJ. Internal Justice Department officials are reportedly alarmed, fearing that the misconduct may taint prosecutions against Schiff and James, possibly jeopardising any future trials. If the grand jury concludes that Pulte and Martin acted outside the bounds of their authority, it could unravel major parts of the mortgage fraud cases they initiated. Legal experts suggest that such findings may force prosecutors to disclose withheld evidence or even dismiss parts of the cases. Meanwhile, for critics of the administration’s hardline justice agenda, the inquiry offers a rare moment of accountability. For Trump and his allies, it represents a dramatic new threat, not from their political opponents, but from the very institutions they sought to control. Trump’s allies are now being accused of corruption not for what they investigated, but for how they conducted those investigations.
https://www.ibtimes.com/trump-allies-branded-corrupt-investigating-themselves-mortgage-fraud-scandal-3790941