The Donald Trump administration is reviving efforts to oust the US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud that she continues to deny. Dan Scavino, the White House deputy chief of staff, has given her a 21-day ultimatum to respond to scathing accusations in a new letter he penned this week, as seen by The Associated Press.
This marks an escalation by the Trump administration, which had previously been hit with a major legal setback in June when the US Supreme Court blocked officials’ attempts to target Cook in a 5-4 ruling. The decision formally stated that the Federal Reserve governor should be given a chance to respond to the allegations that tarnished her name. With the Supreme Court siding with a lower court decision on the matter, Lisa Cook won her chance to continue serving her term as long as her lawsuit contesting her firing proceeds.
The US president originally threatened to fire Lisa Cook from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve while Jerome Powell was still the Fed Chair until Trump-nominated Kevin Warsh succeeded him this year. Over the past year, the Republican leader ramped up attempts to intervene in the central bank’s decisions, incessantly pushing for rate cuts. Simultaneously, he repeatedly threatened to remove Powell from his top post, heightening fears of exerting more control over the independent central bank.
New letter to Lisa Cook renews attempts to fire her
Rehashing the year-old allegations against Cook, the White House deputy chief of staff told her that Donald Trump was “considering removing you from your position,” according to The Associated Press. Nonetheless, the letter also cited the Supreme Court’s demand for proper notice, as Scavino mentioned giving her until August 26 to challenge the claims.
The allegations date back to last August when Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, accused her of committing mortgage fraud. Since starting the job, he’s stood out by using property records at his disposal to launch serious accusations and encourage criminal investigations against Trump’s political enemies.
Trump then wielded these allegations to try and fire Cook, who, according to Pulte’s claims, designated two homes as her primary residence to get more favourable mortgage rates. One of these is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the other in Atlanta.
As reported by ABC News, Scavino also said in his letter that Cook’s actions “may be sufficient to demonstrate that you committed a crime, as you appear to have acquired mortgages that do not meet certain lending requirements and could have received favorable loan terms under fraudulent circumstances.”
“Based on these facts, a jury could find that you intended to defraud these institutions for your own benefit, but at a minimum, this conduct was grossly negligent and demonstrates that you are unfit for the office in which you serve as a controlling member of the Federal Reserve,” he continued.
How has Lisa Cook addressed these allegations?
In a new statement, her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has once again aggressively pushed back against the old allegations, saying, “These allegations are as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve,” as quoted by the AP.
He added, “No matter what President Trump tries to do next, this much is clear under the facts and Supreme Court precedent — there is no valid cause for removing Governor Cook. As we did before, we will challenge this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed.”
Back in November 2024, Lowell argued in a letter that she mostly resided in the Ann Arbor property since she first bought it in 2005. Thus, it was right to label it as her “primary residence” in a 2021 application to refinance its mortgage, according to the letter, AP reported.
The following month, she bought a condominium in Atlanta, referring to it as her “primary residence” in a July 2021 document. Her lawyer argued against fraud claims, calling it an “isolated notation” with no intent to defraud.
A previous mortgage application to the same lender referred to the Atlanta house as a “vacation home,” Lowell said at the time. Cook also alluded to it as a second home in federal filings as she was confirmed to become a Fed governor.