Lawyers for Lisa Cook Call Mortgage Fraud Allegations ‘Baseless’ and an Effort by Trump To Undermine the ‘Independence of the Federal Reserve’

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, an attorney for Governor Lisa Cook of the Federal Reserve is attempting to discredit the mortgage fraud allegations levied against the central banker as “baseless” and “cherry-picked” and calling on the Justice Department to drop its probe.The letter responds to a criminal referral issued in August by the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, who accused Ms. Cook of falsifying residence statuses to secure more favorable loan terms. Mr. Pulte presented as evidence documents showing Ms. Cook obtained mortgages for properties in Michigan and Georgia while listing both as her principal residence.The referral prompted the Department of Justice’s special attorney for mortgage fraud, Ed Martin, to open a criminal investigation, and the accusations were cited by President Trump as grounds to fire Ms. Cook from her post. Ms. Cook subsequently sued the president, and her challenge is pending before the Supreme Court.In the 54-page letter, Ms. Cook’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, takes aim at Mr. Pulte’s charges by arguing his referral relies on “one stray reference” in a 2021 mortgage document and “omits numerous key records” that absolve Ms. Cook of wrongdoing.“The full record makes clear that what he claims to be contradictions in loan applications were not contradictions at all but were cherry-picked, incomplete snippets of the full documents submitted at the time and in subsequent filings by Governor Cook consistent with her applications,” Mr. Lowell writes. “The referrals are baseless and should not have been made in the first place.” Mr. Lowell includes documents relating to mortgage applications Ms. Cook filed for properties in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta. He writes that Ms. Cook used the Cambridge house, which she purchased in 2002, as her primary residence until 2005, when she accepted an assistant professor position at Michigan State University and bought a home there. He says that when she refinanced her Cambridge property, she updated the paperwork to reflect that it was no longer a primary residence.In the case of Ms. Cook’s Atlanta home, Mr. Lowell concedes that an “inadvertent notation” identified the property as her primary residence. He maintains, however, that a separate document provided to the same lender correctly lists the Atlanta condo as a vacation home. He thus claims that “the ‘Primary Residence’ listing was an isolated notation — not an intentional scheme to defraud.”Mr. Lowell further contests the motivations behind the referral, arguing that Mr. Pulte’s actions indicate “they were timed as a response to the President’s desire to change the makeup of the Federal Reserve Board so he could dictate an interest rate cut, thus undermining the independence of the Federal Reserve on matters related to monetary policy.”He cites as evidence the fact that Mr. Pulte has “ignored” similar mortgage fraud accusations raised against “Trump-aligned Republicans” and even “his own immediate family.” He points to a recent article claiming Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche applied for mortgages for two homes in 2020 without specifying either as second homes or other kinds of properties.Mr. Lowell’s letter marks the latest development in the legal clash that erupted in August when Mr. Trump became the first president in the Fed’s 111-year history to attempt to fire a central bank governor. Ms. Cook succeeded in staving off her ouster while she fought the administration in court. The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in January.The legal battle has tested the boundaries of a century-old federal law that broadly defines when a president can remove a Fed governor. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 states that a president can dismiss a Federal Reserve Board member only “for cause,” but provides no clear definition of what constitutes adequate cause. Because no president has ever attempted to terminate a Fed board member, the courts have never addressed the standard.The president has argued that the evidence Mr. Pulte raised regarding Ms. Cook’s alleged mortgage fraud offers “sufficient cause” under the Federal Reserve Act to remove her from her position.Should Mr. Trump succeed in ousting Ms. Cook, it would give the president the opportunity to appoint a new governor and tip the balance toward Republican appointees — creating a four-to-three majority of Trump loyalists among the Fed’s board members. All board members hold voting rights on the Federal Open Market Committee, the 12-person body that sets interest rates, alongside five regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents.

Lawyers for Lisa Cook Call Mortgage Fraud Allegations ‘Baseless’ and an Effort by Trump To Undermine the ‘Independence of the Federal Reserve’

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