The Justice Departmentās deputy attorney general on Wednesday āunequivocallyā denied a report from an MSNBC journalist claiming that Marylandās top federal prosecutor had informed department leadership that a potential case against Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was too weak to pursue.
Schiff is currently being investigated in Maryland over allegations of possible mortgage fraud.
Ken Dilanian, a left-wing justice and intelligence correspondent for MSNBC, tweetedĀ on Thursday that āKelly Hayes, the U.S. Attorney in Maryland, met in recent days with Todd Blanche, the deputy Attorney General, to update him on the Schiff caseā and that āHayes told Blanche she did not think the case against Schiff was strong.ā
But Blanche pushed back hard on that claim.
āBreaking: @DilanianMSNBC reports on a recent meeting that never happened,ā BlancheĀ tweeted. āCan you ask your two āsourcesā for more info? Iām genuinely curious. Excited to hear more about this made-up meeting! Also, unequivocally: U.S. Attorney Hayes has told me no such thing.ā
Dilanian then followed up his Thursday tweet with aĀ statementĀ from Schiff lawyer and former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, who claimed that āit seems pretty clear that a team of career prosecutors have thoroughly reviewed the politically-motivated allegations against Senator Schiff and found they are unsupported by any evidence and are baseless.ā
Hayes, a veteran Department of Justice prosecutor, is also overseeing the case against former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton, who faces charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified information.
āShe expressed to Blanche, we are told, that she does not believe that this is a strong case, that she does not believe that this is a case that can be won, and not a case that the Justice Department should move forward with,ā DilanianĀ claimed on MSNBCĀ Thursday, just a while before Blanche refuted his story.
Conservative BriefĀ reportedĀ that in 2024 Schiff (D-CA) listed both his California and Maryland homes as his āprincipal residenceā in mortgage and election filings, prompting an ethics complaint and raising potential fraud concerns, according to legal experts.
In May, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte reportedly sent a letter to officials Todd Blanche and Pam Bondi outlining Schiffās alleged misconduct.
āBased on media reports, Mr. Adam B. Schiff has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, impacting payments from 2003-2019 for a Potomac, Maryland-based property,ā Pulte wrote in the letter, according to Fox News.
āAs regulator of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, we take very seriously allegations of mortgage fraud or other criminal activity. Such misconduct jeopardizes the safety and soundness of FHFAās regulated entities and the security and stability of the U.S. mortgage market,ā the letter continued.
According to reports, Pulte received a memo in July from Fannie Mae financial crimes investigators concluding that Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) allegedly engaged in āa sustained pattern of possible occupancy misrepresentationā involving five Fannie Mae loans.
Schiff, who formerly served as both ranking member and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) before his election to the Senate, was a leading proponent of the Trump-Russia collusion allegations and frequently cited former British intelligence officer Christopher Steeleās discredited dossier. In March 2017, he read several of its unverified claims into the congressional record.
Outlets also reported earlier this year that a longtime intelligence staffer who worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee repeatedly warned the FBI beginning in 2017 that Schiff had authorized the leaking of classified information to damage President Trump in connection with the now-debunked Russia investigation. The FBI memos documenting those warnings were turned over to Congress by Director Kash Patel.