Amid Mortgage Fraud Allegations, Fed Governor Cook Says Won't Be "Bullied" To Step Down
Update (1730ET): It took all day but Fed Governor Lisa Cook finally offered a response to allegations that she committed mortgage fraud (in order to get better rates, ironically!). Of course, she played the victim card immediately and offered up future 'facts'...
“I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” Cook said in a statement.
“I do intend to take any questions about my financial history seriously as a member of the Federal Reserve and so I am gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts.”
One quick question... did you break the law or not?
Bill Pulte was quick to respond to the governor's statement:
Write anything you or your attorneys want Miss Cook, you’ve been caught based on mortgage documents, not a tweet. It’s black and white. We go after people who commit mortgage fraud, and you signed the mortgage documents, no one else. And you did it within 14 days of each other. https://t.co/LIRK89Zaf8
— Pulte (@pulte) August 20, 2025
We look forward to seeing the PolyMarket trade on the over/under for her resignation.
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The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over a pair of mortgages, the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration to increase legal scrutiny of Democratic figures and appointees.
FHFA Director Bill Pulte wrote a letter to Bondi and DOJ official Ed Martin on Aug. 15 suggesting that Cook may have committed a criminal offense. The letter alleges that Cook “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud under the criminal statute.”
Bloomberg reports that Pulte said Cook took a mortgage on a property in Ann Arbor, Michigan, signing a mortgage agreement that stipulated she would use the property as her primary residence for at least a year.
Two weeks later, according to the letter, she took another mortgage on a Georgia property and also declared it would be her primary residence.
Pulte also called on Bondi to look into whether Cook misrepresented her circumstances by later listing the Georgia property for rental.
The letter includes copies of mortgage documents in Cook’s name, as well as an apparent rental listing from 2022, a little over a year after she bought the Georgia property.
Here is the Criminal Referral Letter on Lisa Cook, the current Fed Governor. pic.twitter.com/aG0LGnokei
— Pulte (@pulte) August 20, 2025
And President Trump was swift to respond... demanding that "Cook must resign, now!!!"
...as the full court press to pack The Fed continues.
Cook was nominated to the Fed by President Joe Biden and took office in 2022, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s board of governors.
She was later nominated by Biden for a full term, which expires in 2038.
Bloomberg reports that no charges have been filed and it’s not clear whether Bondi will investigate. The Justice Department declined comment. The Federal Reserve declined comment. Cook did not respond to requests for comment late Tuesday.