Overview

• The LETITIA Act was introduced August 4 by Sen. John Cornyn and co-sponsored by six Senate Republicans to target public officials accused of federal bank, mortgage or tax fraud.
• The bill proposes raising statutory maximum penalties and creating mandatory minimum terms of one year for bank and loan fraud and six months for tax fraud with tougher sentences for repeat offenses.
• Named after New York Attorney General Letitia James, the legislation follows FHFA referrals that spurred DOJ and FBI investigations into her alleged misstatements on property and mortgage filings.
• FHFA Director Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee, submitted a separate criminal referral for Sen. Adam Schiff, accusing him of falsifying primary-residence claims to secure more favorable loans.
• Both James and Schiff have denied any wrongdoing, characterizing the probes as politically motivated and asserting that their property disclosures were accurate.