by Kevin Killough
President Donald Trump is moving forward with an effort to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve over allegations of mortgage fraud.
The White House notified Cook via a letter Wednesday, which was obtained Friday by Just the News, that the president was “considering” removing her from her role on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The letter demanded she respond within three weeks to allegations of making false statements on mortgage agreements.
The letter was also sent to Cook’s attorney Abby Lowell.
The latest effort to remove Cook could spark a new legal battle over the independence of the central bank.
Last year, then-Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte filed a criminal referral against Cook to the Justice Department last year, claiming she committed mortgage fraud by allegedly listing a secondary residence as a primary residence, prompting President Donald Trump to try and fire her “for cause.”
Lower courts ruled that the Federal Reserve Act’s “for cause” provision is best interpreted to cover actions conducted while on the board, and Cook cannot be removed for alleged crimes or actions committed before she took office.
The Supreme Court ruled in June that the administration had not shown it was likely to prevail on the merits of the case while Cook’s termination moved through the appeals process.
In reaction to Trump’s actions, Rep. Ayanna Pressley said the president “is continuing his racist, sexist, and baseless attack on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.”
“But it’s as unlawful today as it was a year ago,” she said. “We must stop this brazen, anti-Black power grab and defend the Federal Reserve’s independence.”
Pressley’s fellow Massachusetts politician, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, said, “Trump is tanking the economy. So he’s trying again to illegally take over America’s central bank.”
“If he is successful, it will be working families who pay the price. We will fight back to make sure he fails,” he said.
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Kevin Killough is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Background Photo “Federal Reserve Board Building” by AgnosticPreachersKid. CC BY-SA 3.0.
