Is Todd Blanche Undermining the Letitia James Prosecution?

The Deputy Attorney General is “possibly even encouraging” an investigation into the people who reportedly bypassed him—while 47 leakers who helped him go untouched.

On November 20, 2025, MSNBC’s Carol Leonnig reported that a federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Maryland is investigating Bill Pulte and Ed Martin—the two men who reportedly bypassed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to bring mortgage fraud charges against Letitia James.

Then she dropped this:

“Our sources say that the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanch, is well aware of this probe, not technically running this investigation, but aware of it and familiar with it and not in any way interfering with it, but possibly even encouraging it.”

Possibly even encouraging it.

The number two official at the Department of Justice is actively supporting an investigation into the people who bypassed him to bring the case he said couldn’t be brought.

Meanwhile, between September 17 and December 5, 2025, I documented 47 instances of DOJ insiders illegally leaking grand jury secrets, internal deliberations, and prosecution strategy to nine major newsrooms. Every leak helped Letitia James. Six leaks specifically made Todd Blanche look like the hero—the reasonable man who “questioned the legal viability” of charges, who was “caught off guard” by an indictment he never wanted.

Blanche’s response to 47 federal crimes that helped him?

Nothing.

He’s not just protecting the leakers. He’s actively hunting the people who bypassed him.

This is the story of how that happened.

The Promise

On March 21, 2025, Todd Blanche made a promise.

“We will not tolerate politically motivated efforts by the Deep State to undercut President Trump’s agenda by leaking.”

That was his response to a single leak to the New York Times. One story. One outlet. One disclosure that hurt the administration.

He announced a criminal investigation.

Then on April 26, 2025, Blanche doubled down. He tweeted:

“The era of anonymous leaks & shielded sources protecting anti-trump operatives is over. This DOJ is done looking the other way. We will hold leakers — wherever they are — fully accountable. No more safe havens in federal agencies.”

“Wherever they are.” “Fully accountable.” “No more safe havens.”

Remember those words. We’re coming back to them.

The Fraud No One Would Touch

The documentary evidence proving Letitia James committed mortgage fraud was never hidden. It sat in public databases anyone could access.

I found it.

February 8, 2025: I publish “Beyond Campaign Spending: Letitia James’ Puzzling Property Portfolio Raises New Questions”—the first comprehensive investigation into James’s financial disclosures to New York State, including the Peronne Avenue property in Norfolk, Virginia—the same property that would later be at the center of the federal indictment.

What I documented: The Peronne Avenue property was valued at $100,000-$150,000, yet James disclosed two mortgages—Freedom Mortgage ($150,000-$250,000) and National Mortgage ($100,000-$150,000)—totaling $250,000-$400,000. That’s a loan-to-value ratio of 167% to 400%. No legitimate lender issues loans at 250% of property value. Either the valuation was false or the mortgages were phantom.

February 13, 2025: I publish “Discrepancies in AG Letitia James’ Financial Disclosures”—the results of an independent title search I commissioned on the Peronne Avenue property.

What I found: The Freedom Mortgage and National Mortgage James disclosed did not exist in Norfolk County property records. But the OVM Financial mortgage ($109,600) she used to purchase the property in August 2020 was recorded—and had never appeared on any of her financial disclosures. She was reporting phantom mortgages that did not exist in property records while hiding the real mortgage that does exist.

And Peronne is just one property.

The documentary record compiled by myself and fellow researcher Joel Gilbert spans 42 years across four properties in two states: Queens (1983), Brooklyn (2001-2021), and two Norfolk properties (2020, 2023). All of it sourced from NYC ACRIS, Norfolk County property records, New York State Financial Disclosures, and federal court filings.

Public records. Documents anyone can verify. Pattern evidence any first-year prosecutor would recognize.

April 14, 2025: FHFA Director Bill Pulte sends a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. The referral cites mortgage fraud evidence on three properties—Queens, Brooklyn, and Sterling Street in Norfolk—based on the documentary record compiled by myself and Joel Gilbert. Notably, Pulte’s referral did not include Peronne Avenue, the property I had investigated in February and that would become the sole subject of the federal indictment.

The FBI investigated anyway. They found what I found—and more.

Then came the indictment.

What the government revealed made my public records investigation look like a prelude. The October 9 indictment laid out what federal investigators uncovered: James told the bank Peronne was her “second home” for personal use. She told the insurance company it was “owner-occupied.” She told the IRS it was a “rental property” with “zero personal use days”—and took the deductions. She told New York State it was an “investment.”

Four sworn statements. Four different stories. At least three are federal crimes.

Then came the DOJ’s response to James’s motion to dismiss—and the text message.

March 28, 2024—four years after she bought the property and took the deductions—James texted her accountant: “I do not want to take deduction. It looks suspicious.”

Four years of fraud before she realized it “looks suspicious.” That’s consciousness of guilt in her own words.

The Prosecutor Who Wouldn’t Act

Erik Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, had everything I had. Plus more.

Five months of FBI investigation. Subpoena power. Bank records. Email communications. Witness interviews. Phone records. Internal lender documents. IRS records. Title company files. Insurance policies. Everything I found in public databases, plus everything federal investigators could compel.

How much evidence? James’s own lawyers accidentally revealed the answer.

On November 7, 2025, she filed a motion claiming “insufficient evidence” to prosecute. Seven days later, her lawyers requested a two-week extension. The reason: they were drowning in discovery. “More than 17,000 documents and 115,000 pages.” The latest production alone: “nearly two terabytes of data.”

115,000 pages of “insufficient evidence.”

Siebert looked at 42 years of documented fraud, pattern evidence across four properties, and an FBI investigation file that would eventually fill 115,000 pages—and concluded there was nothing worth prosecuting.

Experience without courage is just credentialed cowardice.

And Todd Blanche backed him.

The Stonewalling

Blanche didn’t just look the other way. He actively protected the prosecutor who refused to act.

September 19, 2025: The New York Times reported that Blanche “questioned the legal viability” of charges against James. The source? “Current and former department officials.”

Same article: The Times reported that Blanche and Attorney General Bondi “privately defended Mr. Siebert” against Bill Pulte and Ed Martin, who wanted the case prosecuted. The source? “A senior law enforcement official.”

September 20: The Washington Post reported that Blanche “lobbied the White House” in Siebert’s defense. The source? “Two people familiar with the discussions.”

Read those attributions again. “Current and former department officials.” “A senior law enforcement official.” “People familiar with the discussions.” These weren’t career prosecutors in Norfolk grumbling to local reporters. These were sources at Main Justice—sources with access to what the Deputy Attorney General personally thought and did.

Blanche was defending the man who wouldn’t prosecute 42 years of documented fraud. And someone was making sure the press knew it.

The Bypass

What were Ed Martin and Bill Pulte supposed to do?

The Deputy Attorney General was stonewalling. The U.S. Attorney had looked at overwhelming evidence and walked away. The case was dying in a building full of people who didn’t want it to live.

So they went around Blanche. They took it directly to President Trump.

On November 20, 2025, MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian reported the details: “Pam Bondi and Todd Blanch were never thrilled with these marginal mortgage fraud cases.” Dilanian, it’s worth noting, was caught in 2014 sending stories to the CIA for pre-publication review—a documented history of serving as a conduit for government sources.

“Marginal.”

That’s what Blanche called 42 years of documented fraud across four properties. 115,000 pages of evidence. A text message admitting it “looks suspicious.” A sworn declaration contradicted by an email sent fifteen days earlier.

“Marginal.”

That’s why they bypassed him. That’s why they had no choice.

The Indictment He Didn’t Want

On October 9, 2025, Lindsey Halligan walked into a federal grand jury in Alexandria and did what Erik Siebert wouldn’t do.

She presented the evidence. The grand jury voted to indict. All counts.

The same day, ABC News reported that Bondi and Blanche were “caught off guard” by the indictment. Another leak. Another story positioning leadership as blindsided by a prosecution they never wanted.

Think about what that leak required. Someone inside DOJ knew what the Attorney General knew. Someone knew when she knew it. Someone decided the public needed to understand that this indictment wasn’t the leadership’s idea—it was a rogue action by the people who bypassed them.

The “inexperienced” prosecutor saw what the “experienced” prosecutor missed. Or more accurately: had the courage to act on what the experienced prosecutor chose to ignore.

The indictment was an embarrassment to everyone who said the case couldn’t be brought.

47 Leaks and Counting

Between September 17 and December 5, 2025, I documented 47 instances of DOJ insiders illegally leaking to nine major newsrooms. Internal deliberations. Grand jury information. Witness interviews. Personnel decisions. Prosecution strategy.

Every leak helped Letitia James. Not one helped the prosecution.

Six of those leaks specifically made Todd Blanche the hero of the story:

One narrative. Six leaks. All positioning Todd Blanche as the reasonable man surrounded by rogues who went around proper channels.

Every one of those disclosures was a potential federal crime. Rule 6(e). Obstruction. Unauthorized disclosure of internal deliberations.

Blanche’s response?

Nothing.

Remember the Promise?

March 21, 2025: “We will not tolerate politically motivated efforts by the Deep State to undercut President Trump’s agenda by leaking.”

That was one leak. To one outlet. That hurt the administration.

He announced a criminal investigation.

April 26, 2025: “The era of anonymous leaks & shielded sources protecting anti-trump operatives is over. This DOJ is done looking the other way. We will hold leakers — wherever they are — fully accountable. No more safe havens in federal agencies.”

“Wherever they are.” “Fully accountable.” “No more safe havens.”

September through December 2025: 47 leaks. To nine outlets. That sabotaged an administration prosecution and made Blanche look like the hero.

He opened nothing. “Wherever they are” apparently doesn’t include his own building.

The Retaliation

Now we come back to where we started.

Carol Leonnig’s sources didn’t just say Blanche was aware of the investigation into Martin and Pulte. They said he was “possibly even encouraging it.”

She continued: “Blanch and some of the people around him at the top layers of the Department of Justice have been very frustrated with the methods used by Ed Martin and Bill Pulte.”

Frustrated with their methods. Not frustrated with the 47 leaks sabotaging the prosecution. Not frustrated with grand jury secrets spilling across nine newsrooms. Frustrated with the people who bypassed him to bring a case built on 115,000 pages of evidence.

And then the tell:

“It is a problem, according to our sources, for Todd Blanche, to have cases that aren’t being handled very properly… We’re told Blanche is a little bit embarrassed about all of that.”

Embarrassed.

The Deputy Attorney General is embarrassed by the prosecution he tried to stop. Embarrassed that the “inexperienced” prosecutor saw what the “experienced” prosecutor missed. Embarrassed that 42 years of “marginal” fraud made it to a federal grand jury at all.

So he’s encouraging an investigation into the people who embarrassed him.

Christine Bish, a California realtor who helped compile evidence against Senator Adam Schiff in a separate mortgage fraud case, was subpoenaed to discuss her communications with Martin and Pulte.

“They’re investigating each other,” Bish told CNN. “It’s stupid.”

But it’s not stupid. It’s strategic.

The focus isn’t on whether fraud occurred. The focus is on how the evidence was gathered and who gathered it. Attack the process. Ignore the documents. Make the story about the investigators, not the crimes.

I’ve seen this playbook before.

And the nine newsrooms that accepted 47 illegal leaks? They’re covering Blanche’s investigation of Martin and Pulte without a hint of irony. They benefited from the leaks. Now they’re silent about the retaliation.

There’s enough hypocrisy here to fill an encyclopedia.

What Exactly Is Pulte’s “Crime”?

Let’s be clear about what Blanche is investigating.

Bill Pulte’s alleged “misconduct” is reading my publicly available blog—which linked to publicly available property records, publicly available financial disclosures, and publicly available mortgage documents—and making a criminal referral based on what he read.

That’s not misconduct. That’s his job.

And here’s what makes this investigation even more absurd: As FHFA Director and conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Pulte has broad statutory authority to access all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac systems, data, and records. This authority comes from the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), codified at 12 U.S.C. § 4617(b)(2), which states that the conservator “may take over the assets of and operate the regulated entity … and conduct all business of the regulated entity.”

My blog has a search bar. The documents have been online since February 2025. Anyone can read them. Pulte did. And even if he accessed Fannie Mae records directly, that’s within his explicit statutory authority. Now Blanche is investigating him for it.

Pulte didn’t hack anything. He didn’t steal anything. He didn’t receive classified information. He read a blog post and followed the links to public records. Then he did what any government official should do when they discover evidence of fraud—he referred it to law enforcement.

Meanwhile, Letitia James made four contradictory sworn statements about the same property. She texted her accountant that her tax strategy “looks suspicious.” She claimed zero personal use days to the IRS while telling her bank it was a second home she would occupy.

No investigation into that.

The reader is the criminal. The fraudster is the victim.

That’s the DOJ under Todd Blanche.

Everyone who bypassed him is under investigation.

Everyone who leaked for him is protected.

The Question No One Is Asking

The evidence speaks for itself. 115,000 pages. Four contradictory sworn statements. A text message admitting it “looks suspicious.” Martin and Pulte saw what Blanche refused to see.

But if this prosecution fails—for any reason—Blanche gets to claim he was right all along. The “reasonable skeptic” is vindicated. The people who went around him are discredited.

Todd Blanche has a personal stake in this case failing.

And 47 leaks later, it’s failing.

The Receipts

The evidence against Letitia James sits in public databases. Four contradictory sworn statements. A text message admitting it “looks suspicious.” An email saying “WILL NOT” contradicted by a sworn declaration fifteen days later. Documents anyone can verify.

The evidence against Todd Blanche sits in the public record too.

His March 21 statement proves he acts on leaks—when he wants to.

His April 26 tweet proves he promised to hold leakers “fully accountable” with “no safe havens”—then created the biggest safe haven in the building.

His silence proves he ignores leaks—when they help him.

The investigation into Martin and Pulte proves he pursues the people who bypassed him.

The absence of any investigation into 47 leaks proves he protects the people who leaked for him.

Reading my blog gets you investigated. Forty-seven federal crimes get you nothing.

If Todd Blanche wants to prove this isn’t deliberate, there’s a simple way to start: investigate the 47 leaks with the same energy he’s aimed at the people who read my work and acted on it.

That pattern has a name.

Sam Antar is a convicted felon and a lifelong Democrat with no ties to Donald Trump. As CFO of Crazy Eddie, he committed securities fraud in the 1980s. Since cooperating with federal authorities, he has spent over 30 years training law enforcement agencies including the FBI, SEC, IRS, and DOJ. He has never been paid or promised anything for his investigative work on this case.

This investigation was sourced entirely from public documents: property records, court filings, financial disclosures, and the media’s own reporting. I follow the documents, not the politics.

Follow @SamAntar on X for updates on this investigation

Written by Sam Antar | Forensic Accountant & Fraud Investigator

© 2025 Sam Antar. All rights reserved.