Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has sued President Donald Trump in Washington, alleging that he denied her due process in his attempt to fire her.
She’s asking a federal court to order the Federal Reserve and Chair Jerome Powell not to follow Trump’s decision. According to the lawsuit, Trump violated the Federal Reserve Act by failing to provide Cook with a notice and hearing.
“This case challenges President Trump’s unprecedented and illegal attempt to remove Governor Cook from her position, which, if allowed to occur, would be the first of its kind in the Board’s history,” it reads.
“It would subvert the Federal Reserve Act … 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.”
Trump sent Cook a letter on Aug. 25 stating that he was removing her “for cause,” citing “sufficient reason” to believe that she had made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.
According to the letter, which the president posted on TruthSocial, Cook allegedly claimed in a mortgage document that her primary residence was in Georgia, two weeks after claiming that it was in Michigan on another mortgage document.
“It is inconceivable that you were not aware of your first commitment when making the second,” Trump wrote.
“It is impossible that you intended to honor both.”
He said that her alleged conduct “exhibits the sort of gross negligence in financial transactions that calls into question your competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator.”
Cook claimed, however, that Trump’s allegation of mortgage fraud was a way to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve, whose monetary policy he has been criticizing.
“It is clear from the circumstances surrounding Governor Cook’s purported removal from the Federal Reserve Board that the mortgage allegations against her are pretextual, in order to effectuate her prompt removal and vacate a seat for President Trump to fill and forward his agenda to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve,” the lawsuit reads.
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