Key facts
- Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has sued President Donald Trump to prevent her removal.
- The lawsuit alleges Trump's attempt to fire Cook is illegal and violates her due process rights.
- Cook's legal team asserts that the mortgage fraud allegations lack legal basis and proper process.
- The case challenges the independence of the Federal Reserve.
- Trump's attempt to remove Cook is based on allegations of mortgage fraud and failure to disclose rental income.
- Cook's attorney argues the allegations are inadvertent paperwork errors and cites similar actions by Trump and other officials.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has sued President Donald Trump, alleging his attempt to remove her from the board over mortgage fraud allegations lacks legal grounds and violates her due process rights and the Fed's independence. Cook's attorney, Abbe David Lowell, argued in a letter to White House counsel David Warrington that the president's consideration of removal, based on a notice from deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, relies on unproven allegations from an August 2025 referral to the Department of Justice by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.
Lowell stated that Cook has never committed mortgage fraud or intentional wrongdoing and that there is no legally cognizable cause for her removal. He and Norman Eisen of the Democracy Defenders Fund asserted that the attacks are an attempt by Trump to force the Federal Reserve to comply with his will, and they are prepared to challenge any illegal removal attempt, referencing a late July Supreme Court ruling that limited Trump's ability to summarily fire Fed members but allowed removal "for cause" with proper notice and opportunity to respond.
The White House notice cited two loans Cook took out in 2021 for homes in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta, using standard Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac instruments. Lowell characterized the use of an Atlanta "primary" or "principal" residence mortgage form as an inadvertent paperwork error, not an intentional misrepresentation, and noted the loan was not sold to Fannie or Freddie. He also addressed the absence of rental income on Cook's financial disclosures, stating she never rented the property. Lowell further cited news reports of Trump obtaining similar "primary residence" mortgages on separate Florida properties in 1993, and that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Todd Blanche have reportedly held multiple primary residence mortgages.