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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is rejecting calls to resign amid allegations of mortgage fraud pushed by the Trump administration, per HuffPost.
"I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” Cook said in a statement on Wednesday (August 20). “I do intend to take any questions about my financial history seriously... and provide the facts.”
Cook, who was nominated by President Joe Biden and became the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors in 2022, was accused by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte of falsifying property records in Michigan and Georgia to obtain better loan terms in 2021, prior to her appointment.
Trump echoed Pulte’s claims Wednesday, posting on Truth Social: “Cook must resign, now!!!” According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump is weighing firing Cook if she does not leave voluntarily, a move that would be unprecedented and bound to face legal challenges under the Federal Reserve Act, which only allows removals “for cause.”
The allegation against Cook is the third in recent weeks targeting a Democratic official. Earlier this month, the Trump administration launched investigations into Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both prominent critics of Trump, over similar mortgage-related claims. All three officials have denied wrongdoing.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called the allegations against Cook “the latest example of the Trump administration’s trying to pressure the Federal Reserve.”
“For months now, President Trump has been scrambling for a pretext to intimidate or fire Chair Powell and Members of the Federal Reserve Board,” Warren said.
Pulte has denied any political bias amid the mortgage fraud allegations.
“We do not care whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat... if you commit mortgage fraud and you present an existential threat to the Federal Home Loan Banks, Fannie or Freddie, we are going to prosecute it, period,” he said.
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