WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday called for California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff to be “brought to justice” for alleged mortgage fraud — after a federal housing agency sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department regarding Schiff’s ownership of a Maryland 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 wrote on Truth Social.
“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. I always knew Adam Schiff was a Crook,” the president wrote.
“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.”
Trump added: “Mortgage Fraud is very serious, and CROOKED Adam Schiff (now a Senator) needs to be brought to justice.”
A senior administration official told The Post that the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae, sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department requesting further investigation.
“It is extremely serious and [Schiff] is not taking it seriously,” said that official — who added that the senator could face a criminal count for each time he paid his monthly mortgage bill.
Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Tuesday that “I would have thought he covered his bases a little bit better than that. Adam Schiff is a low-life, he deserves what he gets.”
Schiff is a former House intelligence committee chairman whose unproven claims about Trump’s ties to Russia enraged Republicans and led to his censure. He also served as chief manager in Trump’s 2020 Senate impeachment trial for pressuring Ukraine to investigate alleged Biden family corruption.
Schiff denied wrongdoing in messages posted Tuesday to X.
“Since I led his first impeachment, Trump has repeatedly called for me to be arrested for treason. So in a way, I guess this is a bit of a letdown. And this baseless attempt at political retribution won’t stop me from holding him accountable. Not by a long shot,” Schiff wrote.
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“This is just Donald Trump’s latest attempt at political retaliation against his perceived enemies. So it is not a surprise, only how weak this false allegation turns out to be. And much as Trump may hope, this smear will not distract from his Epstein files problem.”
A spokesperson for Schiff added that “the lenders who provided the mortgages for both homes were well aware of then-Representative Schiff’s Congressional service and of his intended year-round use of both homes, neither of which were vacation homes.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to comment on the allegations during an unrelated press conference Tuesday, citing Justice Department policy.
The California Democrat’s mortgage issue was first publicly reported in 2023 by CNN.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, led by Director Bill Pulte, declined to comment.
Pulte in April referred New York state attorney general Letitia James, another Trump adversary who last February won a $364 million civil fraud judgment against him, to the Justice Department over alleged mortgage fraud connected to properties in Brooklyn and Virginia.
Trump called James a “total crook” during an Oval Office event in May featuring Attorney General Pam Bondi, and two days later, the Albany Times Union reported that the FBI had launched a formal probe.
James has denied the allegations and said they are politically motivated.
