Bitcoin price today: falls to 2-week low below $113k ahead of Fed Jackson Hole
Investing.com -- President Donald Trump called for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to "resign, now!!!" on Wednesday, following allegations of potential mortgage fraud outlined in a letter from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has told aides he is considering attempting to fire Cook, who was appointed during the Biden administration, citing a senior White House official and another person familiar with the matter.
Pulte, a Trump ally, sent a letter on August 15 urging an investigation into Cook over two mortgages. In the letter, which Pulte later published on X, he alleged Cook may have "falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud under the criminal statute."
According to the letter, Cook took a $203,000 mortgage on an Ann Arbor, Michigan property on June 18, 2021, declaring it would be her primary residence for at least a year. Just two weeks later, on July 2, 2021, she reportedly took another $540,000 mortgage on a Georgia condominium with the same primary residence declaration.
Pulte also questioned whether Cook misrepresented her circumstances by later listing the Georgia property for rental in September 2022, noting that rental properties typically require different mortgage terms than primary residences.
This push for investigation expands the Trump administration’s legal scrutiny of Democratic figures, following similar mortgage fraud allegations against Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both longtime Trump opponents.
The White House’s attacks on the Fed come amid Trump’s sustained complaints that Powell and other Fed officials haven’t lowered interest rates at any of their five meetings so far this year.