A group of Republican senators has introduced a bill allowing the Trump administration to take action against officials using their position to enrich themselves or engage in fraudulent activities. The bill introduced by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Steve Daines (R-MT), John Kennedy (R-LA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ted Budd (R-NC), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE), called the Law Enforcement Tools to Interdict Troubling Investments in Abodes (LETITIA) Act, comes as New York Attorney General Letitia James is under scrutiny for mortgage fraud.
“The American people should be able to trust their elected officials to follow the letter of the law, not take advantage of their positions for personal gain,” Cornyn said in a statement. “This legislation would empower President Trump to hold crooked politicians like New York’s Letitia James accountable for defrauding their constituents, violating their oath of office, and breaking the law, and I’m proud to lead my Republican colleagues in introducing it.”
The bill increases federal statutory maximum sentences and fines for officials who “commit bank fraud, loan or mortgage fraud, or tax fraud,” a press release explains. The new mandatory minimum sentences established under the legislation, described as “one year for bank fraud, one year for loan or mortgage fraud, and six months for tax fraud,” seek to ensure that corrupt officials serve prison time.
Officials who continue to engage in fraudulent activities may see a minimum sentence of five years for bank or loan fraud and two years for tax fraud.
Authorities launched an investigation into James for alleged mortgage fraud following a letter from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte urging a probe into the matter. In his letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche, Pulte said James has “in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms.”
