USA07 August, 20262 min read
Donald Trump Renews Effort to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook After Supreme Court Ruling
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White House renews bid to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, citing mortgage fraud allegations. Supreme Court blocked previous attempt, but Trump continues pressure according to reports.
Trump targets Lisa Cook
President Donald Trump is renewing his effort to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, despite a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the central bank’s independence.
The Hill reported that a letter from White House presidential aide Dan Scavino said Trump was “considering” removing Cook and that there was “sufficient reason to believe that you made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.”
Reuters said the White House demanded Cook respond to the mortgage-fraud allegations within three weeks, and that the letter was signed by Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
The Supreme Court’s June decision, as described by The Hill, said Trump didn’t give Cook due process to contest the allegations, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing that whether she can removed “for cause will depend in part on the underlying facts.”
Lawyers call it pretext
Cook’s legal team and Trump’s critics framed the renewed attempt as baseless and procedurally improper, with CNN reporting that Cook’s attorneys said the allegations were “as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook.” CNN also quoted Cook’s lawyer Abbe Lowell saying, “allegation doesn’t amount to cause” and that “there’s not a chance that Governor Cook committed mortgage fraud.”
The Guardian reported that one of Cook’s lawyers, Abbe D Lowell, called the allegations “as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve.” In the same Guardian account, the court’s June ruling was described as a 5-4 decision that held Cook was entitled to stay on while she fights the president’s allegations, because Trump “failed to afford Cook the procedural protections to which she was entitled by statute.”
Fed independence at stake
The renewed push comes as the Supreme Court’s June ruling returned the case to lower courts, and Reuters described Chief Justice John Roberts writing that it was still an open question “what precisely happened here.” Reuters also reported that the Scavino letter alleged Cook committed crimes punishable by up to 30 years in prison and that her conduct constituted negligence calling into question her trustworthiness as a Fed governor.
Al Jazeera said the letter warned the crime was punishable by up to 30 years in prison and that it gave Cook a deadline of three weeks to respond to unproven allegations. The Hill added that Cook’s legal team said it would fight “this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed,” while the Federal Reserve declined to comment and the White House was reached out to for comment.