Trump Creates Committee to Probe Fed Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for Mortgage Fraud

… {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/trump-creates-committee-to-probe-fed-reserve-governor-lisa-cook-for-mortgage-fraud\/#newsarticle","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/trump-creates-committee-to-probe-fed-reserve-governor-lisa-cook-for-mortgage-fraud\/","headline":"Trump Creates Committee to Probe Fed Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for Mortgage Fraud","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/trump-creates-committee-to-probe-fed-reserve-governor-lisa-cook-for-mortgage-fraud\/","datePublished":"2026-10-09T11:32:46-04:00","dateModified":"2026-10-09T11:32:46-04:00","description":"The president has been trying to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve's seven-member board of governors for more than a year.","articleSection":"News","articleBody":" Trump, Lisa Cook President Donald Trump has established a committee of inquiry to probe Federal Reserver governor Lisa Cook for making false statements on mortgage applications -- and has ordered a hearing on \"evidence\" gathered by the group to be held at the White Housetwo days after the midterm elections. The hearing would not be public, according to the memo posted on the White House web site. It's the latest effort by Trump to fire Cook from the Federal Reserve. In June, the Supreme Court ruled against the president in a case brought against him by Cook, saying the commander in chief did not have the power to fire a member of the Federal Reserve. The memo reads, in part: As President, it is my job to ensure the laws are faithfully executed, including by firing subordinates who cannot be trusted to tell the truth and follow the law. U.S. Const. Art. II, sec. 3. To assist me in carrying out that responsibility, the Committee shall investigate the allegations against Governor Cook and report to me whether there is \u201ccause\u201d for Governor Cook\u2019s removal within the meaning of 12 U.S.C. 242, as construed in Trump v. Cook, 146 S. Ct. 2234 (2026). The Committee may consult with appropriate personnel from executive departments and agencies, including the Department of Justice, to aid in its inquiry. The Committee shall, on November 5, 2026, conduct an in-person hearing to consider the evidence and allegations against Governor Cook. The hearing shall occur at the White House and shall last no longer than 4 hours. Trump tried to fire Cook in August 2025 after then-Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte accused her of mortgage fraud, which Cook denied. Lawyers for Cook could not immediately be reached for comment by Mediaite, but attorneys Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen told the Associated Press they were thinking of having Cook testify during the planned Nov. 5 hearing. In May, Pulte claimed in an appearance on CNBC that he thought Cook would be indicted no matter what. \u201cThis is not political from my perspective,\u201d Pulte said. \u201cI\u2019m in charge of making sure that we have a mortgage market that is safe and sound. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re Republican or Democrat, or a Fed governor. If you commit mortgage fraud, we\u2019re going to refer it, and that\u2019s what we did in the Lisa Cook case.\u201d He added: \u201cI do believe that eventually she will be indicted, and let\u2019s say the Supreme Court rules against the people who are saying there\u2019s cause and that there\u2019s the ability to fire her. I do expect her to be indicted. That\u2019s just my own opinion.\u201d Concluding his argument, Pulte said: \u201cSo I think that no matter what the Supreme Court does, look, we have to prosecute mortgage fraud, and I believe in her case, in my opinion, there\u2019s blatant mortgage fraud.\u201d","keywords":["Donald Trump"," Federal Reserve"," Lisa Cook"," probe"," "],"name":"Trump Creates Committee to Probe Fed Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for Mortgage Fraud","thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Untitled-design-1-150x100.jpg","wordCount":"469","timeRequired":"PT2M5S","mainEntity":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/trump-creates-committee-to-probe-fed-reserve-governor-lisa-cook-for-mortgage-fraud\/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Kathianne Boniello","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/author\/","sameAs":[],"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","height":96,"width":96}},"editor":{"@type":"Person","name":"Kathianne Boniello","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/author\/","sameAs":[],"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Mediaite","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/mediaite-publisher-logo.png","width":2000,"height":295}},"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/trump-creates-committee-to-probe-fed-reserve-governor-lisa-cook-for-mortgage-fraud\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Untitled-design-1.jpg","width":"1920","height":"1080","caption":"Donald Trump, Lisa Cook"},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Untitled-design-1-1200x900.jpg","width":"1200","height":"900","caption":"Donald Trump, Lisa Cook"},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Untitled-design-1-1200x675.jpg","width":"1200","height":"675","caption":"Donald Trump, Lisa Cook"},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Untitled-design-1-1080x1080.jpg","width":"1080","height":"1080","caption":"Donald Trump, Lisa Cook"},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Untitled-design-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Donald Trump, Lisa Cook"}]}] …