Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, is reportedly facing a criminal investigation for alleged mortgage fraud, as stated by a source from the Trump administration and reported by Fox News.
This development comes after reports from a month prior indicating that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) had made a criminal referral to the Department of Justice, accusing Schiff of falsifying bank documents and property records on several occasions to obtain more favorable loan terms, according to Fox.
In a sworn affidavit from 2011, then-Congressman Adam Schiff affirmed that a property situated in Montgomery County, Maryland, was his primary residence.
Additionally, Schiff possesses a condominium in Burbank, California, which he identified as his primary residence as recently as 2023 while campaigning for a U.S. Senate seat.
His office has not yet responded to a request for comment from Fox News Digital, as reported by the outlet.
In May, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sent a correspondence to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche detailing alleged misconduct by Schiff.
“According to media reports, Mr. Adam B. Schiff has, on multiple occasions, falsified bank documents and property records to secure more favorable loan terms, affecting payments from 2003 to 2019 for a property located in Potomac, Maryland,” FHFA Director William Pulte stated in the letter.
“As the regulator of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, we take allegations of mortgage fraud or other criminal activities very seriously. Such misconduct threatens the safety and soundness of FHFA’s regulated entities and the security and stability of the U.S. mortgage market,” Pulte further emphasized.
Fox News also reported that Pulte subsequently received a memo from Fannie Mae’s financial crimes investigations unit, which alleged that Senator Adam Schiff had engaged in “a sustained pattern of possible occupancy misrepresentation” concerning five loans backed by Fannie Mae.
The letter indicates that Schiff and his spouse acquired a residence in Potomac, Maryland, in 2003 for $870,000. They obtained a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage amounting to $610,000 with a 30-year term at an interest rate of 5.625%, asserting that the property would function as their primary and principal residence.
The letter further states that Schiff and his wife consistently affirmed the Maryland property as their primary residence in mortgage refinancing documents submitted in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013—even while Schiff was serving as a U.S. Representative for California.
Fox News secured a copy of the 2011 affidavit in which Schiff signed a declaration certifying the Maryland home as his primary residence.
According to Pulte, the couple did not classify the Maryland property as a secondary residence until 2020, as noted by Fox.
During the same timeframe, Schiff claimed a homeowner’s tax exemption on a condominium he owns in Burbank, California—declaring it as his primary residence and receiving a $7,000 reduction on the 1% property tax, as reported by Pulte, citing media sources.
In 2023, the letter noted, a spokesperson for the then-congressman stated that, “Adam’s primary residence is Burbank, California, and will remain so when he wins the Senate seat.”
The federal housing official expressed that he believes Schiff’s alleged actions may represent violations of federal criminal statutes, including those that prohibit wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and making false statements to financial institutions.
Schiff “seems to have manipulated records to obtain advantageous loan conditions, and also seems to have recognized the financial advantages of a primary residence mortgage in contrast to a secondary residence mortgage,” Pulte stated.
The correspondence further mentioned that a representative for Schiff in 2023 informed CNN that, “Adam’s California and Maryland addresses have been designated as primary residences for loan purposes since they are both inhabited year-round and to differentiate them from a vacation property.”
