California Senator Adam Schiff, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest political foes, has now reportedly launched a new legal defense fund amid a widening Justice Department probe into allegations of mortgage fraud tied to his real estate holdings.
The “Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund,” filed with the Internal Revenue Service last week, comes as Schiff faces mounting scrutiny over whether he misrepresented his primary residence in order to secure favorable loan terms.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte referred the case to the DOJ in May, after evidence suggested Schiff simultaneously claimed a condominium in Burbank, California, and a home in Maryland as his primary residence.
On August 8, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Ed Martin as special prosecutor to investigate. A grand jury in Maryland is now weighing possible indictment over claims Schiff falsified property records to obtain cheaper mortgages.
The case marks a striking turn for Schiff, who for years led Democratic efforts to discredit Trump—first as the public face of the Russia investigation and later as lead manager in Trump’s first impeachment.
Now Schiff himself stands accused of misleading the public, and potentially the federal government, about his own financial dealings.
Trump, unsurprisingly, has seized on the development. “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,” Trump posted on Truth Social last month. “I always knew Adam Schiff was a Crook.”
At a Kennedy Center event Wednesday, Trump reiterated his call for accountability: “I’m looking at Pam [Bondi] because I hope something’s going to be done about it. These people put our country at great danger. And Adam Schiff, it was all made up. It was a hoax.”
For Schiff, the allegations present more than a legal challenge—they also risk tarnishing his carefully cultivated image as a defender of democracy.
His attorney, Preet Bharara, dismissed the charges as “transparently false, stale, and long debunked.” Bharara, himself a longtime Trump critic, was fired by the president in 2017.
Schiff’s team has painted the investigation as partisan retribution. “It’s clear that Donald Trump and his MAGA allies will continue weaponizing the justice process to attack Senator Schiff for holding this corrupt administration accountable,” his spokesperson Marisol Samayoa said. She added the fund will allow Schiff “to fight back against these baseless smears while continuing to do his job.”
But federal investigators appear to be taking the matter seriously. The unusual step of appointing a special prosecutor, coupled with the ongoing grand jury review, underscores the weight of the allegations.
Should an indictment be handed down, Schiff could find himself entangled in the very type of protracted legal battle he once urged for Trump.
For Republicans, the case represents a form of long-delayed accountability. Schiff spent years driving narratives that undermined Trump’s presidency. Now, facing questions about his own integrity, Schiff is relying on the very system of justice he once wielded against his opponents.
Whether the charges advance or not, Schiff’s reputation—long hailed in Democratic circles and derided on the right—faces its stiffest test yet.
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