{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.daines.senate.gov/2025/08/06/daines-introduces-bill-to-hold-corrupt-public-officials-accountable/", "Daines Introduces Bill to Hold Corrupt Public Officials Accountable", "2025-08-06", "2025", "2025-08", "Republican", "Senate", "MT", "Steve Daines", "D000618", "www.daines.senate.gov", "daines", "https://www.daines.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "Would Give Trump Admin New Tools to Target Those Who Commit Bank, Tax, Loan, or Mortgage Fraud\n\nU.S. SENATE \u2013U.S. Senator Steve Daines introduced the Law Enforcement Tools to Interdict Troubling Investments in Abodes (LETITIA) Act, which would empower the Trump administration to hold public officials who commit acts of federal bank fraud, tax fraud, or loan or mortgage fraud accountable for using their position of public trust to enrich themselves:\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve always believed that for those of us lucky enough to hold positions of public trust\u2014 we are here to serve, not be served, and the interests of the American people and this country should always come before personal gain. This bill will increase penalties for public officials who commit fraud and help ensure they serve with integrity and honesty, and I\u2019ll fight with my colleagues to get it across the finish line,\u201d said Daines.\n\nDaines joined Senators John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) in introducing the legislation.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe Law Enforcement Tools to Interdict Troubling Investments in Abodes (LETITIA) Act would:\n\nIncrease federal statutory maximum sentences and fines for public officials who abuse their offices and violate the public trust to commit bank fraud, loan or mortgage fraud, or tax fraud;\n\nCreate new mandatory minimum sentences \u2013 one year for bank fraud, one year for loan or mortgage fraud, and six months for tax fraud \u2013 to ensure corrupt public officials serve prison time;\n\nAnd, for public officials who engage in a continuing course of criminal conduct by committing three or more of these offenses, increase the mandatory minimum sentences to five years for bank or loan fraud, and two years for tax fraud.\n\nThe U.S. Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James following a referral from the Federal Housing Finance Agency earlier this year alleging mortgage application fraud involving her properties in New York and Virginia.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T14:57:50Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.daines.senate.gov/2025/08/06/daines-introduces-bill-to-hold-corrupt-public-officials-accountable/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6976213082671165, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}