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Rep. Eric Swalwell, (D-Calif.), a longtime critic of President Donald Trump who worked on the Jan. 6 committee and on Trump’s first impeachment inquiry in 2019, has been referred to the Justice Department on allegations of tax and mortgage fraud.
NBC News reported Thursday that someone familiar with the referral said Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday seeking an investigation into Swalwell.
The Justice Department declined to comment to HuffPost.
The referral reportedly involves millions of dollars in loans tied to a Washington, D.C., property that Swalwell has claimed as his main residence.
In a statement to HuffPost Thursday, Swalwell said the only thing that “surprised” him about the referral was that “it took him this long to come after me.”
Swalwell is one of several lawmakers who still have a live civil case against Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. He said Thursday that the referral would not stop him from pursuing that litigation.
Win McNamee via Getty Images
Swalwell is the latest Trump foe to find themselves pursued by the Justice Department run by the president’s longtime ally Bondi. And he is not the first Democrat to be accused of mortgage fraud by the administration.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook 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 also worked on the impeachment inquiry against Trump, and the two have never been on friendly terms — Trump has insulted Schiff regularly for years, accusing him of being “corrupt.”
James — whom Trump has referred to publicly as “scum” — successfully prosecuted Trump for business and tax fraud before. Trump was ordered to pay close to $515 million after interest; an appeals court upheld the civil fraud ruling in October, but found the fine excessive.
Cook faced mortgage fraud accusations involving a home in Michigan as Trump tried to fire her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, which came as he tried to push the Fed to lower interest rates. Michigan officials said in September there was no evidence that Cook had violated rules around mortgages for primary residences. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in January over whether Trump actually has the authority to remove Cook from the board.
Trump singled out Schiff, James and former FBI director James Comey for prosecution in September in a Truth Social post that was apparently meant to be a private message for Bondi.
Comey is accused of lying to Congress in 2020 and obstructing justice, charges that he and his lawyers say are completely fabricated. Odds are looking good he will succeed in having his case dismissed after a hearing at a federal courthouse in Virginia on Thursday where a judge raised real doubts about the legitimacy of the interim U.S. attorney handpicked by Trump and Bondi to charge Comey. Comey argues the case against him is vindictive and that he is being targeted by the administration because, quite simply, Trump has hated him ever since his first stint at the White House, when Comey raised a probe into possible ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. Trump has regularly denigrated Comey for years, calling him a liar and “untruthful slimeball.”
John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser and a frequent critic of the president, was indicted in October on charges of unlawfully retaining and transmitting national defense information. He has denied any wrongdoing.
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“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 said in a statement 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 long 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, including that he had a sexual or personal relationship with alleged Chinese spy Christine Fang. A House Ethics probe did not find any wrongdoing by the lawmaker. Swalwell also cooperated with an FBI probe, which also found no wrongdoing.
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