President Trump dug into longtime political enemy Sen. Adam Schiff on Tuesday, calling the California Democrat a “scam artist” over what he said was a mortgage fraud scheme.
“I have always suspected Shifty Adam Shiff [sic] 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,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post.
“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.”
The president said, “I always knew Adam Schiff was a Crook. 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.”
Mr. Trump added, “Mortgage Fraud is very serious, and CROOKED Adam Schiff (now a Senator) needs to be brought to justice.”
Mr. Schiff responded to the president’s remarks on social media, saying in a video posted on X that suggested that Mr. Trump’s attacks against him is just another attempt at political retribution and a distraction, particularly from the controversy surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein files.
“Basically, the controversy of the Epstein fouls has dominated MAGA world, and the president needs a distraction, and I am a convenient distraction, so the President today is accusing me of fraud, and the basis of his accusation is that I own a home in Maryland and I own a home in California,” Mr. Schiff said.
“Big surprise, members of Congress, almost all of them, own more than one home or rent more than one home, because we’re required to be on both coasts. So he is using my ownership of two homes to make a false claim of mortgage fraud.”
He added, “But what really is going on here is this is Donald Trump trying to bring about political retribution, retaliation, trying to distract from his Epstein files problem.”
The lawmaker was a leader of the House impeachment of Mr. Trump in the president’s first term, and the two often engage in partisan sniping at each other.
Mr. Trump’s Truth Social post comes after the USA Herald first reported in May a “bombshell ethics complaint filed in Oct. 2024 by Christine Bish and Darren Ellis against Mr. Schiff accusing him of a ’pattern of mortgage fraud, voter fraud, and unlawful campaign filings stretching back over two decades.’”
Ms. Bish is a Republican candidate for Congress from California.
According to the 20-page document, Mr. Schiff may have violated Maryland Code §7-401 and California’s Election and Tax Codes, including statutes that echo the allegations recently aimed at New York Attorney General Letitia James — specifically in the areas of mortgage and insurance fraud.
The complaint states, “In 2009, Adam Schiff’s residence and voting registration was called to question in a House Ethics Committee hearing. Adam Schiff, despite claiming to live and represent the people in the state of California, filed and reaffirmed through refinancing documents, his primary residence [in Potomac, Maryland].”
Marisol Samayoa, Mr. Schiff’s spokesperson during his Senate campaign and his current press secretary, told CNN last year that he has claimed both his properties as primary residences for mortgage purposes “because they are both occupied throughout the year and to distinguish them from a vacation property,” according to the Independent.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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