NEW: Adam Schiff Forms Legal Defense Fund As Fraud Probe Heats Up

Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) has moved to form a legal defense fund as the Justice Department’s investigation into alleged mortgage fraud heats up.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced last week that Ed Martin, a veteran attorney who briefly served as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, would serve as special counsel to investigate allegations of mortgage fraud involving Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Schiff is accused of listing a Maryland property he owns as his primary residence while refinancing a loan. Schiff refinanced the with federal loan holders on Feb. 6, 2009, which he listed at the time as his primary residence. The alleged deception continued until Oct. 13, 2020, when the Federal Housing Agency claims the paperwork was corrected to list the home as a secondary residence.

“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 on Truth Social after the allegation was levied. “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.”

Grand juries in Virginia and Maryland are currently weighing criminal indictments against both Schiff and James over allegations that they fraudulently valued their properties in order to gain more favorable loan terms.

Both Democrats have denied any wrongdoing and have accused the president of “weaponizing” the justice system after they both pursued highly controversial, politically motivated investigations against the president themselves. While the senator has largely attempted ti sidestep questions about the investigation, his office announced Tuesday that they were moving to establish an official legal defense fund.

“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,” a spokeswoman for Schiff told Fox News on Tuesday. “This fund will ensure he can fight back against these baseless smears while continuing to do his job.”

The legal fund, dubbed “Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund,” was filed with the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday, according to a report from the New York Times.

Schiff played a key role in the Russian collusion hoax during the president’s first term, when he served as ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The then-congressman falsely claimed that he had seen definitive evidence of “collusion” between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, a claim that has been thoroughly debunked.

As a result of his lies, Schiff was censured by the GOP-controlled House in 2023.

“Russia, Russia, Russia. Totally phony, created by Adam Schiff, Shifty Schiff, and Hillary Clinton and the whole group of them,” Trump said from the Kennedy Center on Wednesday. The president was speaking in reference to recently declassified documents confirming that senior Obama intelligence officials signed off on a bogus report alleging consequential Russian interference, and a Kremlin preference for a Trump victory, despite having evidence to the contrary.

“It made it very dangerous for our country because I was unable to really deal with Russia the way we should have been,” Trump added before turning to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “And I’m looking at Pam because I hope something’s going to be done about it.”