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Left: Federal Reserve Board of Governors subordinate Lisa Cook listens during an unfastened gathering of the Board of Governors astatine the Federal Reserve, June 25, 2025, successful Washington (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File). Right: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell takes disconnected his hard chapeau arsenic President Donald Trump looks at ongoing operation astatine the Federal Reserve, Thursday, July 24, 2025, successful Washington (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson).
After the Trump administration issued a transgression referral alleging possible owe fraud successful an evident effort to found origin for ousting a Federal Reserve Board governor, Lisa Cook has lawyered up and filed a lawsuit to support herself and the "independence" of the U.S. cardinal slope and monetary argumentation agency.
The complaint filed successful the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia connected Thursday states that Trump purported to occurrence Cook based connected specified pretext, namely transgression owe fraud allegations Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte referred to the DOJ.
In that referral, Pulte alleged that Cook "falsified slope documents and spot records to get much favorable indebtedness terms, perchance committing owe fraud," listing 2 houses arsenic her superior residence, similar to claims made against Trump rival Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
We person obtained a papers Lisa Cook submitted to the U.S. Government portion serving arsenic Federal Reserve Governor. In it, connected February 28, 2023, she represents to the U.S. Government that the Atlanta Property is her PERSONAL RESIDENCE.
However, Lisa Cook, arsenic a then-sitting Fed… pic.twitter.com/clclhtag9O
— Pulte (@pulte) August 22, 2025
— Pulte (@pulte) August 28, 2025
Cook, for her part, reportedly said successful a statement that she was not fired and would not go.
"President Trump purported to occurrence maine 'for cause' erstwhile nary origin exists nether the law, and helium has nary authorization to bash so," her connection reportedly said. "I volition not resign. I volition proceed to transportation retired my duties to assistance the American system arsenic I person been doing since 2022."
In the suit that has followed, Cook — "the archetypal Black pistillate to beryllium connected the Federal Reserve's Board successful its 111-year history," the suit notes — said Trump's effort to region her is transparently an "unlawful" bid to capable her spot with idiosyncratic who would "forward his docket to undermine the independency of the Federal Reserve" until 2038, and astatine a clip erstwhile the president has called for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to resign oregon beryllium fired for dragging his feet connected cutting involvement rates.
"At each Federal Open Market Committee gathering successful 2025, Governor Cook has joined Chairman Powell and different members successful voting not to little short-term involvement rates," the suit added.
Powell, it should beryllium noted, is being sued alongside Trump successful this lawsuit — "to the grade that helium has immoderate quality to instrumentality immoderate enactment to effectuate President Trump's purported termination of Governor Cook," the suit said.
In seeking a declaration from a national tribunal that she has not been fired, Cook relies connected a 90-year-old U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
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As Law&Crime has reported successful a abstracted case implicit Trump's attempted firing of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner, the Supreme Court lawsuit Humphrey's Executor v. United States established that "inefficiency, neglect of duty, oregon malfeasance successful office" were the causes for firing an FTC commissioner, arsenic Congress expressly intended to insulate the autarkic just contention bureau from being unfairly subjected to the whims of the enforcement and, by extension, politicization and dysfunction.
In that case, the property of William Humphrey sued for backmost wage and succeeded successful arguing that then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not person the powerfulness to occurrence him without origin aft argumentation disagreements.
Cook maintains that the aforesaid applies successful her case, due to the fact that the wrongdoing alleged successful the transgression referral has not been adjudicated done owed process, due to the fact that it relates to alleged behaviour that really predates her confirmation arsenic a Fed governor, and due to the fact that Congress likewise intended for the Federal Reserve to beryllium autarkic of governmental pressures by requiring "cause" for firings by the president.
"In Humphrey's Executor, the Court recovered that Congress has the authorization to restrict statesmanlike removals 'depend[ing] upon the quality of the office," Cook argued. "Specifically, 'for-cause' removal restrictions were deemed law with respect to officers astatine the FTC; successful reaching this conclusion, the Court specifically relied connected the FTC's operation arsenic (a) 'a assemblage of experts,' (b) with long, staggered terms, (c) that was designed to beryllium 'nonpartisan' and enactment 'with full impartiality.'"
"The Supreme Court precocious made wide that the investigation successful Humphrey's Executor applies with peculiar unit to the Federal Reserve," the suit continued.
Cook asserted that accepting Trump's limitless mentation of his firing powerfulness would mean helium tin "magically" found origin "completely unmoored to caselaw, history, and tradition" by targeting immoderate committee subordinate with whom helium disagrees connected monetary argumentation with "chalked up" allegations unrelated to their clip "in office," whether oregon not those claims are true.
"Indeed, President Trump's conception of 'cause' has nary limiting principle; it would let him to region immoderate Federal Reserve Board subordinate with whom helium disagrees astir argumentation based connected chalked up allegations. That the President says helium has recovered (or created) immoderate ground for removing a Governor does not magically marque specified a ground grounds for a 'for cause' removal nether the [Federal Reserve Act] FRA."
Simply put, the instrumentality and precedent establishes what "cause" for firing is and this is not it, said Cook's attorney.
Cook is represented by lawyer Abbe Lowell, known for representing Hunter Biden, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Trump nemesis New York Attorney General Letitia James arsenic she fends disconnected similar owe fraud allegations.
The lawsuit has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Joe Biden appointee, and a proceeding connected Cook's petition for a impermanent restraining bid has already been acceptable for 10 a.m. connected Friday, the tribunal docket reviewed by Law&Crime shows.
Read the filing here.
English (US) ·