Reactions started rolling in Tuesday after a Wall Street Journal report revealed that Bill Pulte, the director of President Donald Trump's Federal Housing Finance Agency, was under investigation by ethics watchdogs shortly before the ethics office overseeing the agency was purged.
Pulte oversees the U.S. mortgage market and also runs Fannie Mae and its brother firm Freddie Mac. He has taken over both the company boards and made himself the chairman of both organizations and most recently suggested a 50-year mortgage could make homes more affordable.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency watchdog role was removed earlier this month and the ethics office for Fannie Mae "had received internal complaints alleging senior officials had improperly directed staff to access ... mortgage documents" for officials who have criticized or legally fought Trump, including New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Social media users responded to the report:
"You can’t just waltz in & start [going] thru the president’s 'enemies' gov’t documentation at will. I’ve been waiting for this to surface," former federal prosecutor Joyce Vancewrote on X.
"Bill Pulte's company (Pulte Homes) best years selling homes were from 1998 to 2008. He is a slimebag builder," a software developer wrote on X.
"Trump next time he is asked about Pulte," loan officer and former talk radio host Tyler Cralle wrote on X, paired with Mariah Carey's "I don't know her" meme.
"Shocked, well not shocked," attorney Kevin Baum shared with a Simpsons meme on X.
"Hate how obviously clear this was. And simply zero way of doing anything about it for 3+ years," film archivist and copy editor David Neary wrote on X.
"Big surprise... Not," writer and editor C. John Schoonejongen wrote on X.
"Bill Pulte is covering up a crime he committed," TV/film editor Molotovsky wrote on Bluesky.