❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump called for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign following allegations of mortgage fraud raised by former housing regulator Bill Pulte. Cook has vowed to stay in post, insisting she will not be “bullied.”
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Trump, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, former housing regulator Bill Pulte, and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
📍WHEN & WHERE: Allegations surfaced on X and Truth Social on Wednesday, with supporting documents dating back to 2021.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Cook must resign, now!!!” – President Trump
🎯IMPACT: The allegations could impact Cook’s position on the Federal Reserve Board and its upcoming interest rate decisions.
President Donald J. Trump has called for the immediate resignation of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook following serious allegations of mortgage fraud raised by Bill Pulte, a former Trump appointee who led the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency. However, Cook has vowed to remain in post, saying she will not be “bullied.”
In a letter dated August 15 and posted on X (formerly Twitter), Pulte accused Cook of falsely claiming two separate homes as her primary residence to receive more favorable mortgage rates. The letter was addressed to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and senior Justice Department official Ed Martin. Pulte claims Cook pledged in a June 2021 mortgage document that she would make an Ann Arbor, Michigan home her primary residence for at least one year. Just two weeks later, she reportedly bought a condo in Atlanta and also listed it as her primary residence—something that could constitute bank fraud.
“Ms. Cook: why did you designate your Atlanta Condo as your primary residence two weeks after declaring your Michigan home as your primary residence?” Pulte wrote.
“Cook must resign, now!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social following the allegations. However, Cook has insisted she has “no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.”
She added: “I do intend to take any questions about my financial history seriously as a member of the Federal Reserve and so I am gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts.”
Cook, appointed to the Fed’s Board of Governors in 2022, is a key voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets U.S. interest rate policy. President Trump has frequently been at odds with the central bank and its chairman, Jerome Powell, for refusing to cut interest rates, despite other central banks doing so and economic data showing no signs of runaway inflation.
This is not the first time the Federal Reserve has faced serious ethical and legal scrutiny. In January of this year, former senior Fed adviser John Harold Rogers was arrested and indicted for allegedly stealing sensitive trade secrets and passing them to individuals tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Rogers reportedly transferred confidential documents, including internal policy briefings, and even met with Chinese nationals in hotel rooms to hand over materials.
Prosecutors allege he accepted nearly half a million dollars from a Chinese university to teach part-time—a job they say was a cover for espionage.
Image by Brookings Institution.
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