Trump Accuses Schiff Of Lying About Maryland Home To Commit Mortgage Fraud
President Donald Trump unleashed a harsh attack on Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Tuesday morning, reiterating 2024 allegations that Schiff committed mortgage fraud by lying about his principal address for over a decade, which the lawmaker rejects
In a Truth Social post, Trump called Schiff a “scam artist” and claimed he obtained a mortgage for a Maryland home in 2009 but only designated it as a second home in 2020 as part of a ruse to get better rates and terms from the company, which has been in federal conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis.
The president stated that Fannie Mae’s Financial Crimes Division had discovered the suspected wrongdoing. Schiff purchased the Maryland property while serving in Congress in 2009, and he became a senator the following January. Schiff described the claims as “baseless.”
“I have always suspected Shifty Adam Schiff 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,” Trump wrote.
“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. 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. Mortgage Fraud is very serious, and CROOKED Adam Schiff (now a Senator) needs to be brought to justice,” Trump wrote. He did not provide any evidence of the alleged fraud.
When asked about the accusations later Tuesday, Trump appeared to soften the specific allegation.
“I don’t know about the individual charge, if that even happened, but Adam Schiff is a serious lowlife,” Trump said.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked, “When you said that you want Adam Schiff brought to justice, what does that mean?”
Trump responded, “I’d love to see him brought to justice.”
Schiff was not prohibited from identifying his Maryland house as his principal residence during his stint in Congress, because the Constitution only required him to be a “inhabitant” of California at the time of his election, not for his whole tenure.
Schiff, however, identified two properties, one in California and one in Maryland, as his “principal residence” on several mortgage and election papers dating back to 2003, Just the News reported in October.
Schiff refinanced his Maryland property in at least three situations — in 2009, 2011, and 2013 — and labeled it his “principal residence,” while also putting his Burbank, California apartment as his primary address in separate financing paperwork, according to the source. He subsequently updated the note on his Maryland mortgage to reflect a secondary residence.
The trend was discovered by Christine Bish, a Sacramento-based real estate detective who campaigned for Congress as a Republican last year. She brought an ethics complaint against Schiff before Congress.
Schiff said Trump’s remarks were the latest effort at political vengeance against his perceived adversaries, and that they would not deflect from “his Epstein files problem.”
“Since I led his first impeachment, Trump has repeatedly called for me to be arrested for treason,” Schiff wrote on X. “So in a way, I guess this is a bit of a letdown. And this baseless attempt at political retribution won’t stop me from holding him accountable. Not by a long shot.”
A spokesperson for Schiff said that the accusations have been debunked.
“The lenders who provided the mortgages for both homes were well aware of then-Representative Schiff’s Congressional service and of his intended year-round use of both homes, neither of which were vacation homes,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “He has always been completely transparent about this.”
The spokesperson did not say whether the Maryland home was designated as a primary residence. Fannie Mae stated that it would not comment on the claims.
Schiff responded later Tuesday via video, calling the president’s accusations “baseless” and “without merit.”
Obama Accuses JD Vance Of Promoting ‘Blood And Soil’ Politics
Former President Barack Obama rarely mentions Vice President JD Vance by name, but that changed this week with one of his sharpest public attacks since Vance took office.
The comments immediately fueled speculation that Democrats are beginning to focus more attention on the vice president as Republicans look ahead to the post-Trump era.
Speaking Thursday during a conversation with author Malcolm Gladwell, Obama accused Vance of promoting what he described as a “blood and soil” vision of America, despite being married to Usha Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants.
Obama made the remarks while discussing the Reconstruction era and arguing that many of the same debates over citizenship, voting rights and national identity continue today.
“We have a politics now that at least one of our major parties has been captured by politics that is not that subtle about suggesting that ‘We the people’ means a certain kind of people,” Obama said.
“When you have the vice president, current vice president, making a speech that is basically a blood and soil version of ‘We the people,’ that it matters who your parents were and how long they’ve been here despite him being married to a daughter of an immigrant himself.”
The phrase “blood and soil” is historically associated with Nazi Germany and white nationalist ideology.
Obama went on to argue that debates over who belongs in America remain central to the nation’s politics.
“That echoes, then, ideas about who can be a citizen, who belongs, who gets to make decisions,” he said.
Gladwell followed by accusing Vance of hypocrisy, arguing that the vice president was making what he called a nativist argument despite his own family’s immigrant background.
Obama agreed.
“That is progress,” Obama said.
“Listen, hypocrisy is progress. It is, because it means that you feel guilty enough to either lie to yourself or others.”
Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to Vance’s office for comment.
Obama did not identify the specific speech he was criticizing, but Vance’s most recent nationally televised remarks came during Independence Day celebrations marking America’s 250th birthday.
In that speech, Vance encouraged Americans to reject what he called a “two-dimensional view” of the country focused only on its historical failures.
“So what I’d ask you to do, my fellow Americans, on our 250th birthday, is to reject the two-dimensional view of your fellow citizens and reject the two-dimensional view of your country,” Vance said.
“Reject the view of your nation that sees only its sins, but not its grace and its greatness.”
He also emphasized that America’s accomplishments were achieved by “a common people working towards a common future.”
Obama has generally avoided making Vance a regular target since the vice president took office.
One notable exception came during the 2024 presidential campaign when then-Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Without naming Vance directly, Obama contrasted Harris’ choice with the Republican ticket.
“When a presidential candidate chooses a running mate, it says a lot about who they are and what kind of president they’ll be,” Obama said at the time, Fox News reported.
Political observers have increasingly discussed Vance as a potential frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, though he has not announced any plans to run.
Against that backdrop, Obama’s unusually direct criticism is likely to fuel speculation that some Democrats are beginning to sharpen their message against a politician they view as a likely future standard-bearer for the Republican Party. While no Democratic leaders have publicly described their strategy in those terms, prominent figures often begin drawing contrasts with potential future rivals well before a presidential campaign officially begins.
Whether that proves to be the case remains to be seen, but Obama’s remarks marked one of his most pointed critiques of Vance to date and ensured the vice president once again found himself at the center of the national political conversation.
