Donald Trump has announced via his social media site, Truth Social, that he will be elevating William J. Pulte, the current director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Pulte will apparently retain his posts at the FHFA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac alongside his new role.
The DNI position was created during George W. Bush’s administration and was meant to unify and oversee the disparate parts of the United States Intelligence Community (IC).
This position was last held by Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned in May.
Pulte’s Alleged Scams
Pulte has been embroiled in a number of controversies both during his time in the private sector and his tenure in public service.
He was an important promoter of the $ZACK memecoin, which was founded by Edward Constantinescu.
Constantinescu was later accused by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission of defrauding investors through this pump-and-dump scheme.
Lawyers for Pulte told Mother Jones that he did not profit from his promotion of this allegedly fraudulent project.
Mother Jones also reported on a donation from Team Pulte Inc. to One World Love.
Pulte claimed in tax filings that this donation was for “assistance to underserved people,” however, it seems that this entity was actually tied to Binnall Law Group, which was representing Trump’s nonsensical election fraud claims.
This eventually led to a letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden to Pulte to discuss the purpose of this donation.
FHFA head wants Jerome Powell investigated and removed
Finally, in his tenure at FHFA, Pulte has been responsible for multiple criminal referrals directed at enemies of Trump. This has included trying to start criminal cases against Letitia James, Lisa Cook, and Jerome Powell.
Pulte’s unprecedented lawfare often centered around thin claims of mortgage fraud, ironic considering that according to reporting from Reuters, his father and stepmother have committed a very similar offense, declaring multiple residences as their primary residence.
Even more strikingly, it turns out that his claim against Cook seems to be entirely false, deepening concerns that Pulte was acting out Trump’s desire to assault Federal Reserve intelligence.
If Pulte is serving as an attack dog for Trump, who is willing to ignore legal and moral constraints, then as acting DNI he will now have expanded access to information and resources to advance Trump’s assaults.
