OAN Staff Abril Elfi
12:35 AM – Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook is reportedly filing a lawsuit challenging her firing, which was ordered by President Donald Trump following allegations that she committed mortgage fraud.
Cook is accused of mislabeling two properties as her primary residence to secure more favorable loan terms — specifically on mortgages obtained in 2021, before her Fed appointment.
Bill Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), first accused Cook of misrepresenting her primary residence in mortgage applications and referred the matter to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Cook’s attorney stated that she is flat-out rejecting Trump’s directive to leave her role, despite the GOP president declaring in a letter that she was “removed” from her post, effective immediately.”
Trump shared the letter on Truth Social just days after previously demanding her resignation in another post on the platform.
The 47th president pointed to his authority under both the Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 as justification for the move. The act gives the president power to remove Fed governors “for cause.”
In his letter, Trump argued there was ample reason to believe Cook had “made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.” He added that he had concluded “faithful enforcement of the law requires [her] immediate removal from office.”
Since news of her firing broke, Cook has retained attorney Abbe Lowell, who has represented Democrat political figures such as Hunter Biden and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“President Trump has taken to social media to once again ‘fire by tweet’ and once again his reflex to bully is flawed, and his demands lack any proper process, basis, or legal authority. We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action,” Lowell said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
Pulte, a Trump appointee to an agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte initially alleged that Cook improperly claimed two primary residences—one in Ann Arbor and another in Atlanta—in 2021, to secure more favorable mortgage rates.
“It’s very odd to see people try to twist back way sideways and upside down to justify mortgage fraud. This is a very serious crime. Mortgage fraud. It carries up to 30-year prison sentences,” Pulte told “Mornings with Maria” on Monday.
“I believe the president has ample cause to fire Lisa Cook. Whether he wants to do that or not is entirely up to the president. However, we will go where mortgage fraud is. If mortgage fraud is with Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter if you commit mortgage fraud in President Trump’s America, we’re going to come after you. And Lisa Cook is no exception to that.”
Then, on August 15th, Pulte finally submitted a criminal referral to the Justice Department, accusing Cook of falsifying property records and bank paperwork.
Political analysts say that the Lisa Cook case could end up being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, although the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 says that any U.S. president can fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board “for cause.”
“President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022,” Cook said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.
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