The Federal Housing Finance Agency is shuttering New York’s Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offices due to state Attorney General Letitia James’s alleged “corrupt” actions, the Washington Examiner confirmed.
James has been accused of mortgage fraud by the Trump administration, but has not been charged. President Donald Trump considers her an enemy and has pressed officials to investigate James.
“We are shutting down the two New York offices for Fannie and Freddie as a result of Letitia James’ corrupt and dangerous business practices in the state,” a source close to the FHFA told Fox News Digital.
The FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which provide “liquidity, stability, and affordability to the mortgage market,” the agency said.
The offices will keep their functions but will not have a physical presence in New York State. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had offices near Midtown Manhattan in New York City.
“We’ll still employ New York residents, and we’ll still continue to do mortgage loans in New York, of course,” the source added. “But we are going to eliminate our physical presence. And to the extent that we have leases, we are going to be subleasing those.”
It’s unclear what James did specifically to cause the two government-sponsored companies to close their New York offices.
The New York attorney general drew considerable ire from Trump after she sued him in a civil fraud case and won in court against the president and his companies. Trump was ordered to pay more than $350 million in fines and face other penalties in February 2024.
The allegations of mortgage fraud come from paperwork discrepancies on James’s Virginia and New York homes. James allegedly lied on her paperwork, saying her New York property had four units instead of the proper five, which gives her mortgage advantages.
James listed her Virginia property as her primary residence, and allegedly wanted a better mortgage rate, though her job required her to live in New York.
Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has denied the allegations and accused the administration of a “crusade” against Democrats.
“Given the cascade of unsubstantiated allegations coming from the Trump Administration on its ‘mortgage fraud’ crusade against Democrats, it’s no surprise they are having trouble finding an objective and law-abiding prosecutor who would ignore the facts and the evidence to manufacture sham charges,” Lowell said in a statement to ABC News.
“As we have repeatedly said, any impartial and non-political inquiry would conclude Attorney General James did not violate any laws managing her properties,” he added.
TRUMP EYES NEXT TARGETS AS COMEY CHARGES FORESHADOW MORE INDICTMENTS
U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert resigned last month after he was unable to charge James with mortgage fraud. The administration had pushed him to aggressively pursue the case.
Trump insisted that he fired him, telling reporters the same day that James was “very guilty of something, but I really don’t know.”
