Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte has accused New York Attorney General Letitia James of making false statements in insurance filings tied to a Virginia property, sending criminal referrals to federal prosecutors in Illinois and Florida.
The referrals, obtained by the New York Post, allege James gave inaccurate information to Illinois-based Allstate and Florida-based Universal Property Insurance.
Pulte sent the filings to Andrew Boutros, US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Jason Reding Quinones, US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
The move comes four months after a federal judge in Virginia dismissed a criminal indictment accusing James of mortgage fraud. That case had been brought by the Justice Department and did not survive.
Both referrals rely on insurance documents posted on social media by Mike Davis, a Trump ally and founder of the conservative legal group Article III Project.
In the Illinois matter, Pulte said the documents appear to show James told the insurer a Norfolk, Virginia, home she bought in 2020 would be occupied by one adult with no children.
He argued the property was instead occupied by four people, including three children and James’ niece. Based on that, he said James may have defrauded the insurer.
In the Florida referral, Pulte alleged James falsely told Universal Property Insurance the same Norfolk property would be unoccupied for five months each year.
He said social media posts suggest the house was occupied year-round by her niece.
A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the US attorneys received the referrals.
James’ attorney rejected the accusations and called them baseless. Abbe Lowell said Trump and his political allies keep trying to recycle allegations after earlier efforts failed in court and before grand juries. He described the referrals as part of a revenge campaign driven by politics rather than public interest.
Lowell also said the administration should be focused on the cost of living instead of pursuing what he called petty political payback. He argued the effort would fail, same as the previous attempts.
The earlier mortgage fraud case against James was dismissed last November by US District Judge Cameron Currie.
The judge found then-interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan had been improperly appointed and lacked lawful authority to secure the indictments.
