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...A federal grand jury in Maryland is investigating whether Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte and Justice Department official Ed Martin illegally shared sensitive grand jury information with unauthorized people, according to two people familiar with the probe.

The investigation, according to two people familiar and documents reviewed by MS NOW, is focused on whether the mortgage fraud investigations of Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and possibly of New York Attorney General Letitia James have been tainted by the investigative methods allegedly used by Pulte and Martin.

Improperly sharing sensitive grand jury information is a serious breach of Justice Department rules. Investigators who are found to have done so can face criminal charges including obstruction of justice, contempt of court and also stiff fines.

FBI agents have asked witnesses to turn over records and have interviewed them about people who may have presented themselves as federal investigators working on behalf of Pulte or Martin, according to the sources and documents reviewed by MS NOW.

It's an extraordinary turnabout for the Department of Justice to be investigating two of Trump's staunchest allies, who together have pressured career prosecutors to bring mortgage fraud charges against Schiff, James and others when those prosecutors have broadly concluded the facts do not support seeking indictments of those individuals.

According to two sources, the office of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who reportedly has grown concerned about unforced errors in Justice Department investigations, is helping to oversee this new Maryland probe. ...