Rep. Eric Swalwell, (D-Calif.), a longtime critic of President Donald Trump who labored on the Jan. 6 committee and on Trump’s first impeachment inquiry in 2019, has been referred to the Justice Division on allegations of tax and mortgage fraud.
NBC Information reported Thursday that somebody conversant in the referral mentioned Invoice Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Company, despatched a letter to Legal professional Common Pam Bondi on Wednesday searching for an investigation into Swalwell.
The Justice Division declined to remark to HuffPost.
The referral reportedly entails hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in loans tied to a Washington, D.C., property that Swalwell has claimed as his major residence.
In an announcement to HuffPost Thursday, Swalwell mentioned the one factor that “surprised” him concerning the referral was that “it took him this long to come after me.”
Swalwell is certainly one of a number of lawmakers who nonetheless have a reside civil case in opposition to Trump for his function within the Jan. 6 rebellion. He mentioned Thursday that the referral wouldn’t cease him from pursuing that litigation.
Win McNamee through Getty Photographs
Swalwell is the newest Trump foe to search out themselves pursued by the Justice Division run by the president’s longtime ally Bondi. And he isn’t the primary Democrat to be accused of mortgage fraud by the administration.
New York Legal professional Common Letitia James, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Prepare dinner and Sen. Adam Schiff (Calif.) have all been accused of mortgage or tax fraud by the administration. Schiff’s probe has reportedly stalled for now. Like Swalwell, Schiff additionally labored on the impeachment inquiry in opposition to Trump, and the 2 have by no means been on pleasant phrases — Trump has insulted Schiff commonly for years, accusing him of being “corrupt.”
James — whom Trump has referred to publicly as “scum” — efficiently prosecuted Trump for enterprise and tax fraud earlier than. Trump was ordered to pay near $515 million after curiosity; an appeals court docket upheld the civil fraud ruling in October, however discovered the superb extreme.
Prepare dinner confronted mortgage fraud accusations involving a house in Michigan as Trump tried to fireside her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, which got here as he tried to push the Fed to decrease rates of interest. Michigan officers mentioned in September there was no proof that Prepare dinner had violated guidelines round mortgages for main residences. The Supreme Court docket will hear arguments in January over whether or not Trump really has the authority to take away Prepare dinner from the board.
Trump singled out Schiff, James and former FBI director James Comey for prosecution in September in a Fact Social publish that was apparently meant to be a personal message for Bondi.
Comey is accused of mendacity to Congress in 2020 and obstructing justice, prices that he and his legal professionals say are utterly fabricated. Odds are trying good he’ll achieve having his case dismissed after a listening to at a federal courthouse in Virginia on Thursday the place a choose raised actual doubts concerning the legitimacy of the interim U.S. lawyer handpicked by Trump and Bondi to cost Comey. Comey argues the case in opposition to him is vindictive and that he’s being focused by the administration as a result of, fairly merely, Trump has hated him ever since his first stint on the White Home, when Comey raised a probe into potential ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential marketing campaign and Russia. Trump has commonly denigrated Comey for years, calling him a liar and “untruthful slimeball.”
John Bolton, Trump’s former nationwide safety adviser and a frequent critic of the president, was indicted in October on prices of unlawfully retaining and transmitting nationwide protection info. He has denied any wrongdoing.
“Like James Comey and John Bolton, Adam Schiff and Lisa Cook, Letitia James and the dozens more to come — I refuse to live in fear in what was once the freest country in the world,” Swalwell mentioned in an announcement to HuffPost.
He added: “As Mark Twain said, ‘Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.’ Mr. President, do better. Be Better.”
Swalwell has lengthy been harangued by Trump loyalists and Trump-led disinformation campaigns. In 2023, Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia promoted wildly distorted and false claims about Swalwell, together with that he had a sexual or private relationship with alleged Chinese language spy Christine Fang. A Home Ethics probe did not discover any wrongdoing by the lawmaker. Swalwell additionally cooperated with an FBI probe, which additionally discovered no wrongdoing.
