A nonprofit watchdog has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), alleging the housing regulator failed to comply with a public records inquiry submitted through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The complaint, filed in federal court this week by the Campaign for Accountability (CfA), states that it requested a copy of a report allegedly prepared by FHFA Director Bill Pulte, which was allegedly sent to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro before her office served the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell, with subpoenas on Jan. 9 threatening a criminal indictment.
The Powell probe, which the Fed chair confirmed in an extraordinary video address two days later, relates to Senate testimony he gave in June of last year regarding a renovation of the Fed’s historic headquarters.
Powell alleged that he and the Fed were being targeted by the Trump administration, stating that “the threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president.”
The CfA’s FOIA request cites an opinion piece published by the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 12, which stated, “Our sources say Bill Pulte of the Federal Housing Finance Agency wrote a report that made its way to Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C.”
Bloomberg also reported that Pulte was a “driving force” behind the Department of Justice’s probe of Powell and the Fed, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
On Jan. 12, Pulte declined to comment on the Fed subpoenas, telling Bloomberg: “The DOJ is outside of my purview. This is out of my purview. I don’t know anything about it, and I would defer you to the DOJ.”
The FHFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the existence of the alleged report.
Pulte, following the lead of President Donald Trump, has persistently attacked Powell’s handling of monetary policy and his alleged mismanagement of the office renovation project, which saw its initial $1.9 billion budget swell to $2.5 billion.
The Fed has attributed the cost overruns to design changes mandated by review agencies; the rising costs of materials, equipment and labor; and unforeseen construction conditions, such as contaminated soil and more asbestos remediation than anticipated.
Pulte’s criticisms of Powell turned increasingly personal last year as speculation mounted that Trump would attempt to remove the Fed chairman from office. In a July 2025 interview with Scotsman Guide, Pulte used terms including tired, old, stubborn, selfish, arrogant and pompous to describe Powell.
The FOIA request from the CfA, sent on Jan. 22, requested that the FHFA provide the alleged report within 20 business days. According to the subsequent complaint, the agency acknowledged receipt of the request but has provided no response since.
Campaign for Accountability, headquartered in Washington, D.C., describes itself as a “nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life.”
CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith stated in a press release Monday that Pulte and the FHFA “do not have jurisdiction over the Fed or its Chairman, so the public has a right to know how Pulte abused his position to push the president’s vendetta.”
Kuppersmith added: “Since the FHFA has neither provided the memo nor explained why it has not, CfA is asking the court to compel the agency to produce it.”
