Recently dismissed Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has filed a lawsuit claiming President Donald Trump lacks the authority to remove her from her position.
In the suit, filed Thursday morning in federal court in Washington, D.C., Cook claims Trump violated a federal law allowing him to remove a Fed governor only “for cause.” The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden.
President Trump fired Cook on Monday over allegations that she committed mortgage fraud.
“Pursuant to my authority under Article II of the Constitution of the United States and Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as amended, you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately,” said Trump in a letter to Cook. “The Federal Reserve Act provides that you may be removed, at my discretion, for cause, See 12 U.S.C. 242. I have determined that there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position.”
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte had accused Cook of mortgage fraud after designating a Michigan home and an Atlanta condominium as her primary residences on loan applications, potentially securing more favorable terms.
According to Yahoo News, Cook has also filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order declaring that Trump’s efforts to fire her are unlawful, and bars the Fed from taking steps to remove her pending further litigation.
“This case challenges President Trump’s unprecedented and illegal attempt to remove Governor Cook from her position which, if allowed to occur, would the first of its kind in the Board’s history,” wrote Cook’s legal team from Lowell & Associates in the suit. “It would subvert the Federal Reserve Act (FRA), which explicitly requires a showing of ‘cause’ for a Governor’s removal, which an unsubstantiated allegation about private mortgage applications submitted by Governor Cook prior to her Senate confirmation is not.”
A former Michigan State University (MSU) Economist and Professor, Cook was confirmed by the Senate Banking Committee to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in May 2022 under the Biden administration, and is the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors in its 108-year history. Prior to her appointment, from 2018-2021, Cook was Director of the American Economic Association Summer Training Program. She was also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Cook was on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. During her time at Harvard, she also served as Deputy Director for Africa Research at the Center for International Development. Before then, she was a National Fellow at Stanford University.
From 2011-2012, Cook served as a Senior Economist on the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama. From 2000-2001, she served as a Senior Advisor on Finance and Development in the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of International Affairs.
“The sanctity and integrity of mortgage applications and mortgage contracts are paramount,” said Pulte via his social media account X on Thursday. “Violating the integrity of these agreements means putting the entire country at risk. This is why, in my mind, mortgage fraud is such a serious crime.”
Cook is being represented by Abbe David Lowell, Founding Member of the Washington, D.C.-based firm of Lowell & Associates PLLC. Lowell has successfully tried high-profile criminal and civil cases, ranging from public corruption, financial fraud (securities, bank, tax, accounting, bankruptcy), conspiracy, defamation, civil rights, election law, obstruction and false statements, APA, unfair trade practices, and the Foreign Agents Registration and Espionage Acts before juries in more than 15 different states and over 20 federal districts. He also has argued appeals in more than half the federal courts of appeals, the highest courts in half a dozen states, and before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has represented clients in numerous congressional oversight and other hearings as well as enforcement actions brought by various federal agencies, state attorneys general, and local prosecutors.
Click here for more on Lisa Cook’s lawsuit against President Trump.
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