United States President Donald Trump has called for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to step down immediately in his continued attacks on the central bank’s independence as officials mull the next steps on interest rates.
A close Trump ally and head of U.S. Federal Housing and Finance took to X to post his Criminal Referral Letter on Cook, accusing the Joe Biden appointee of “potentially committing mortgage fraud” and urged the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate.
Trump then leapt on the allegations on his own social media, Truth Social, saying, “Cook must resign, now!!!”.
In response to the unconfirmed allegations, Cook said she had “no intention of being bullied” into stepping down.
“I learned from the media that FHFA Director William Pulte posted on social media that he was making a criminal referral based on a mortgage application from four years ago, before I joined the Federal Reserve,” Cook said in a statement.
“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.”
This furthers Trump’s push for the Fed to slash interest rates in a pressure campaign that has been mainly focused on the central bank chairman, Jerome Powell.
Pulte has also been openly critical of Powell, even urging him to fire Cook and look into the allegations.
“Powell must look into it or he is complicit,” he posted.
Despite Pulte’s calls for Powell to get involved, the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 states explicitly that board members can only be removed by the president.
