Washington
—
A Justice Department official is ready to probe Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook after she was accused by a member of President Donald Trump’s administration of committing mortgage fraud, in accordance with a letter despatched Thursday to Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
The letter, seen by NCS, was written by Ed Martin, a lawyer on the division who’s tasked with investigating mortgage fraud. Martin mentioned the scenario “requires further examination.”
In a letter dated August 15, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte mentioned that Cook claimed two properties — a house in Michigan and a rental in Atlanta — as her major residence addresses. Pulte, a vocal Trump ally, mentioned in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday that he appeared into Cook primarily based off a tip. He added that his company has used synthetic intelligence software program from Palantir to trace potential mortgage fraud.
In his letter, Martin additionally mentioned: “I encourage you to remove Ms. Cook from your Board. Do it today before it is too late!”
“After all, no American thinks it is appropriate that she serve during this time with a cloud hanging over her,” he mentioned.
However, solely the president has the facility to take away a Fed official — and solely for trigger. In a response to Pulte’s accusations, Cook was defiant, saying in an announcement that she has “no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.”
She added that she is “gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts.”
The Fed declined NCS’s request for remark.
This is a growing story and will likely be up to date.