But the president’s challenge — perhaps reporters should “go check out the records” themselves — has proven to be interesting advice. ProPublica reported last week, for example:

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer entered into two primary-residence mortgages in quick succession, including for a second home near a country club in Arizona, where she’s known to vacation. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has primary-residence mortgages in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, has one primary-residence mortgage in Long Island and another in Washington, D.C., according to loan records.

A day later, Reuters advanced the broader story in an even more provocative way:



......That said, immediately after Pulte filed a criminal complaint against Cook with the Justice Department, quite a few observers made the case that the underlying issue is quite common and rarely prosecuted, which necessarily raised questions about selective enforcement and why the administration is going after the president’s perceived foes and not his allies who appear to have done the same thing.,,,,,

The senator added, “Donald Trump has made mortgage fraud accusations his weapon of choice to attack people standing in his way and people standing up to him, like me. ... Should we expect Trump and his enablers at [the Justice Department] to make sensational accusations against and investigate his own Cabinet?”

If recent history is any guide, I think we know the answer to that question.