Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Tuesday denied accusations from President Donald Trump that he engaged in “possible mortgage fraud,” calling the allegations an attempt at “political retribution.”
Trump and Schiff have been at odds for years, with the Democratic senator having led a House impeachment of the president during his first term and establishing himself as an unrelenting Trump critic ever since.
“This is just Donald Trump’s latest attempt at political retaliation against his perceived enemies,” Schiff said in a post to X, slamming the “weak” and “false allegation” as a “baseless attempt at political retribution.”
The statement from the California senator comes after Trump on Tuesday morning said an investigation by Fannie Mae, a government-sponsored mortgage financier, concluded that Schiff had “engaged in a sustained pattern of possible mortgage fraud” by listing a Maryland home as his primary residence for years instead of his California home.
“I have always suspected Shifty Adam Schiff was a scam artist. And now I learn that Fannie Mae’s Financial Crimes Division have concluded that Adam Schiff has engaged in a sustained pattern of possible Mortgage Fraud,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“Adam Schiff said that his primary residence was in MARYLAND to get a cheaper mortgage and rip off America, when he must LIVE in CALIFORNIA because he was a Congressman from CALIFORNIA,” the president continued. “I always knew Adam Schiff was a Crook. The FRAUD began with the refinance of his Maryland property on February 6, 2009, and continued through multiple transactions until the Maryland property was correctly designated as a second home on October 13, 2020. Mortgage Fraud is very serious, and CROOKED Adam Schiff (now a Senator) needs to be brought to justice.”
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, an independent agency that makes criminal referrals related to mortgage fraud to the Justice Department and includes Fannie Mae, declined to provide comment to the Washington Examiner, as did Fannie Mae.
A memorandum from Fannie Mae investigators to FHFA Director William Pulte concluded that Schiff and his wife, Eve, “engaged in a sustained pattern of possible occupancy misrepresentation” on their home loans between 2009 and 2020, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The investigation has not yet provided a final determination as to whether Schiff is guilty of unlawful behavior or “fraud,” with the memo noting that investigators had been asked by the FHFA inspector general’s office for loan files and “any related investigative or quality control documentation” for Schiff’s homes. Investigators further confirmed they found that Schiff at various points identified both the Maryland home and a California unit he also owns as his primary residence, per the outlet.
Fannie Mae’s findings confirm some determinations stemming from previously reported investigations from various media outlets over the years, including a 2023 CNN analysis and a 2024 Just the News report.
As a congressman who was elected to represent the Los Angeles area in 2000, Schiff designated his home in Maryland in 2003 as his primary residence and relisted it as the primary residence at least four times when he repeatedly refinanced his mortgage, according to CNN. The senator has listed both his California and Maryland homes as his “principal residence” for decades on mortgage and election forms.
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On Tuesday evening, Schiff released a video defending himself against Trump’s accusations that Fannie Mae investigators had determined he “engaged in a sustained pattern of possible mortgage fraud.”
“Big surprise — members of Congress, almost all of them, own more than one home or rent more than one home because we’re required to be on both coasts. So he is using my ownership of two homes to make a false claim of mortgage fraud,” Schiff said.