President Donald Trump is continuing to ramp up pressure on the Federal Reserve, ordering one of the central bank’s board members, Lisa Cook, to resign over alleged mortgage fraud.
However, Cook is refusing to leave.
A prosecutor in Trump’s Justice Department, Ed Martin, is looking into the matter after a federal housing regulator flagged it.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Cook must resign now!”
The mortgage fraud concerns were shared by the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The letter alleged that Cook “has falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud under the criminal statutes.”
In particular, Pulte said Cook had falsified the “residence statuses for an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based residence and an Atlanta, Georgia-based property.”
Cook, a Biden appointee on the seven-member Fed board, said she is taking the matter seriously, but she will not be pressured into stepping down based on an allegation.
Her term ends in 2038.
“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 have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.”
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump is looking at firing Cook for cause.
Critics of Trump have accused him of threatening the stability of the financial system by attempting to strip the central bank of its traditional independence.
However, Trump and his allies have accused the Fed of playing politics with monetary policy.
Trump has threatened to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whom Trump has nicknamed “too late” over his failure to lower interest rates despite cooling inflation.
Trump has a rolling shortlist of candidates to replace Powell, who has said more time is needed to determine how Trump’s tariffs will impact prices.
On the other hand, recent signs of a slowing labor market could convince the Fed that a rate cut is needed to juice the economy.
In a letter to Powell, prosecutor Ed Martin urged him to fire Cook “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,” Martin wrote.
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