Overview
- New reporting says Fannie Mae’s ethics office was investigating complaints that senior officials directed staff to access mortgage files for New York Attorney General Letitia James and other Democratic figures.
- The internal probe was escalated to the FHFA Office of Inspector General, whose acting chief, Joe Allen, forwarded it to the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia.
- Following the escalation, senior ethics and legal leaders including chief ethics officer Suzanne Libby and general counsel Danielle McCoy were removed, and the FHFA inspector general post is now listed as vacant.
- An FHFA spokesperson said the anonymous-source claims are false and defamatory, while Bill Pulte has publicly framed recent firings as part of ending DEI initiatives at Fannie Mae.
- Lindsey Halligan, a Trump ally appointed last month as U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, received the referral as industry figures warn that governance turmoil is shaking confidence in the mortgage giants.