Another vocal Trump critic hit with criminal fraud probe referral to DOJ
A Trump administration top housing official has referred a fourth Democratic official and "vocal critic" of President Donald Trump to the Justice Department over allegations of mortgage and tax fraud, according to reports Thursday.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) — now the fourth Democratic official to face mortgage fraud allegations in the last several months — could be under a potential federal criminal probe over his Washington, D.C. home, according to NBC News.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, Trump attack dog and housing finance director Bill Pulte — who oversees the U.S. mortgage market and also runs Fannie Mae and brother firm Freddie Mac, taking over both company boards and making himself chairman of both organizations — wrote that Swalwell may have made false or misleading statements on his loan documents. The agency's acting inspector general is also reportedly investigating.
Swalwell released a statement to NBC News, explaining he is the latest opponent to face attacks from the Trump administration.
"As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him, the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me," he said.
Trump has repeatedly urged the prosecution of his political opponents, both on social media posts and in speeches.
“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. “Of course, I will not end my lawsuit against him. And I will not stop speaking out against the President and speaking up for Californians.”
Each of the accused Trump opponents have denied any wrongdoing.
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Teen at center of Matt Gaetz sex scandal was homeless and needed money for braces: report
A woman has come forward to tell her story after the House Ethics Committee determined that then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sexually abused her when she was just 17.
Laura B. Wolf, an attorney for the girl, spoke to The New York Times about the ordeal. The paper got in touch with Wolf after a federal judge in Florida unsealed court documents that described the victim as "a then-homeless 17-year-old high schooler."
Wolf said her client was living with a parent in a homeless shelter and trying to save up enough money to buy braces to fix her teeth when she falsely advertised herself as an 18-year-old on a "sugar daddy" dating website in 2017.
"The vulnerable circumstances most crime victims face are rarely known to the public," Wolf told the paper. "Although my client's circumstances were revealed outside of her control, I hope it helps for the public to see a fuller and more human picture of her than the press has reported on to date."
"Power imbalances can be age, but they can also be financial. My client had little economic security, which allowed for financial leverage over her," she added.
The girl was later introduced to Gaetz through his friend Joel Greenberg, who had sex with her seven times, paying $400 on each occasion.
She would later testify that Trump fundraiser Chris Dorworth witnessed her having sex with Gaetz on a pool table or air hockey table at a party at his home. She also told investigators that she witnessed Gaetz using cocaine that night. She said she was paid $400 for having sex with Gaetz twice that night.
According to the report, the girl eventually saved enough money from the encounters to afford braces.
For his part, Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
Outrage as Trump aides move to put his name back on Kennedy Center after court said no
The Kennedy Center board is moving once again to put President Donald Trump's name on the side of the performing arts center — defying court orders.
The Trump-loyal board voted Thursday to inscribe "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump" beneath the venue's main signage — a workaround to a federal law banning new memorials or plaques at the center, The New York Times reported. The move came shortly after the board also voted to move forward with shuttering the main building for two years of renovations, a plan Trump first floated in February, calling the historic venue "tired, broken and dilapidated."
"The center desires to recognize and honor President Trump's existential and unprecedented contributions to the survival of the center by all legal means," the resolution states.
Both moves now face fresh scrutiny from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who already blocked an earlier closure attempt after finding the board's original vote "ill-informed and seemingly preordained." Cooper previously ruled that only Congress has the authority to rename the institution, forcing the center to remove Trump's name from the building in June, though it's currently appealing that decision.
The new purported loophole to put Trump's name back on the building earned a swift reaction from political observers on social media.
"Insanity," wrote former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta.
"My word: just think about how low his self-esteem is that he needs this so badly?" wrote former "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd. "Most human beings would have felt the shame of all this. I know this isn’t a new take. But it doesn’t make it any less sad or pathetic."
