Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook’s lawyers told the White House that she did not knowingly commit fraud, denying that she falsified mortgage documents, as President Donald Trump has claimed in his attempt to fire her.
Cook’s lawyers, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, framed the situation as an “inadvertent error” on Cook’s part, rather than fraud, according to a response to Trump’s threat to fire her submitted just ahead of a deadline imposed by the Trump administration. They also took a swing at the Trump administration itself.
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“For the second time in a year, we have explained why there is no legal basis for President Trump to remove Governor Cook for cause,” they said. “An inadvertent error is not fraud, as the President and a third of his cabinet should know because they reportedly did the same thing.”
“These attacks on Governor Cook are not about real estate paperwork; they are an attempt by President Trump to force the Federal Reserve to bend to his will,” the letter continued. “Our response should put this matter to rest once and for all, but, if necessary and in keeping with the Supreme Court’s ruling, we are prepared to challenge any illegal attempt to remove Governor Cook.”
The saga began when Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte accused Cook of mortgage fraud, prompting Trump to fire her and the Justice Department to open an investigation into the allegations.
Pulte, who oversees the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, sent a criminal referral to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, claiming that Cook broke the law by listing two homes, one in Michigan and one in Georgia, concurrently as her primary residence months before she was nominated to the Fed board.
The dismissal by Trump — if successful — would mark the first time in Fed history that a president has fired a member of the Fed board. The effort has generated tremendous controversy.
Cook defended herself in court, and the Supreme Court eventually ruled she could stay on the job. But it also said that Trump didn’t provide Cook with the process to dispute the allegations and that her firing “will depend in part on the underlying facts.”
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Trump officials restarted the process of firing Cook through a more careful process. In an Aug. 5 letter, a White House official told Cook there was “sufficient reason to believe” she made false statements on mortgage applications and gave her a deadline this week to respond.
