MaddowBlog-The reported conflict between Scott Bessent and Bill Pulte adds to the Team Trump schisms

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Donald Trump has claimed prominent members of his team “get along with each other” and “love each other.” There’s overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Trump recently said a key difference between his first and second terms is that members of his team “get along with each other” and “love each other.”

With Bessent threatening to punch Bill Pulte “in the f---ing face,” the boast appears hilariously untrue. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-09T16:31:41.469Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/reported-conflict-scott-bessent-bill-pulte-adds-team-trump-schisms-rcna230069

A couple of months ago, Donald Trump sat down with Fox News’ Lara Trump (his daughter-in-law) and reflected on one of the key differences between his first and second terms. “We have really good people this time, and they get along with each other,” the president said, adding, “They love each other ... and it’s smoother. I think it’s smoother.”

Perhaps the Republican was confusing his team for some other administration — because there’s all kinds of evidence that contradicts the idea that prominent members of his team “get along with each other” and “love each other.” Politico reported:

A private dinner attended by dozens of administration officials and close advisers to President Donald Trump was temporarily marred by a dramatic clash between two of Trump’s top economic officials, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at one point threatening to punch top housing finance official Bill Pulte ‘in the f---ing face.’

.....One Trump insider told Politico the confrontation was “bonkers,” and another called the developments “unhinged.” (None of the relevant individuals commented on the record.)....

Those schisms came on the heels of Elon Musk and Bessent getting into a heated shouting match at the White House. Meanwhile, Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have been at odds with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro; and Musk, during his tenure, also clashed with Navarro, Duffy and Rubio......

As we’ve discussed, throughout American history, there have been administrations with rival factions, but those divisions usually take time to develop. On Team Trump, the cracks are bursting into view less than eight months after Inauguration Day.

In theory, a strong president could intervene, resolve differences, unite his or her own team and establish a clear vision for his or her administration to follow. In practice, however, Trump appears content to play the role of President Bystander, watching these divisions get even worse.

[Irish_Dem]

1. I read that Trump loves to create chaos and fighting among his employees.

He sets it up and loves it.

[vapor2]

2. Both are assholes

and I regret we have a Pulte home.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. MaddowBlog-Adam Schiff tries to turn the tables, pushes for investigation into FHFA's Pulte

A Trump loyalist at the Federal Housing Finance Agency sought a DOJ investigation into Schiff. The Democratic senator’s lawyer said that’s backward.

Adam Schiff tries to turn the tables, pushes for investigation into FHFA’s Pulte - MSNBC

apple.news/AxIcsB4uASn-...

— (@oc88.bsky.social) 2025-09-10T16:03:32.571Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/adam-schiff-tries-turn-tables-pushes-investigation-fhfas-pulte-rcna230346

It’s not altogether flattering. Politico reported, for example, that some congressional Republicans are “privately expressing growing discontent” with Pulte. The article quoted one unnamed GOP lawmaker saying, in reference to the housing official: “The guy’s just a little too big for his britches.”

Another added, “I think he’s a nut.”

But just as notable is some of the pushback the FHFA chief is getting from one of the Trump targets he referred to the Justice Department. The Los Angeles Times reported:

Three days after President Trump publicly accused Sen. Adam Schiff of committing mortgage fraud, an attorney for Schiff wrote privately to the Department of Justice that there was ‘no factual basis’ for the claims — but ‘ample basis’ to launch an investigation into Bill Pulte, the Trump administration official digging into the mortgage records of the president’s most prominent political opponents.

......It was around this same time when Schiff hired Preet Bharara, a high-profile legal figure who served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who wasted little time in reaching out to the DOJ.

“We are disturbed by the highly irregular, partisan process that led to these baseless accusations; the purposeful, coordinated public disclosure of these materials containing confidential personal information, without regard to the security risks posed to the Senator and his family; and Mr. Pulte’s role in this sordid effort,” Bharara wrote in the July 18 letter reviewed by MaddowBlog.

The L.A. Times’ report added:

Bharara outlined several reasons why he believed the president’s allegations against Schiff are without merit, and attached a copy of a letter from Schiff to the mortgage lender on his home near Washington, D.C, that Bharara said proved Schiff had been ‘completely transparent’ about listing both that home and a unit in his home district in Burbank as primary residences in mortgage documents.

Bharara also tried to turn the tables, making the case that Pulte is “a Presidential appointee who seems to have made it his mission to misuse the power of his office to manufacture allegations of criminal conduct against the President’s perceived political adversaries,” and as such, it’s Pulte, and not Schiff, who should be investigated.

“You should decline Mr. Pulte’s invitation to join his retaliatory harassment of Senator Schiff,” Bharara wrote to DOJ leaders. “Instead, Mr. Pulte’s misuse of his position should be investigated by a nonpartisan Inspector General to determine whether Mr. Pulte’s conduct should be referred to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation.”

Schiff has a great attorney and this will be fun to watch