By Marisa Taylor and Chris Prentice

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The political appointee leveling fraud accusations against perceived opponents of President Donald Trump enlisted a man who’d once been convicted of a felony sex offense as a consultant to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to six people familiar with the role.

Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, appointed Mark Zarkin, a Michigan restaurateur and prominent Detroit-area Trump supporter, as a consultant to the two mortgage companies after taking office in March, these people said. Reuters couldn’t determine exactly when Zarkin was recruited, under what terms, or the specific tasks assigned to him in the role.

In recent weeks, according to internal documentation reviewed by Reuters, Zarkin

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