President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook to resign amid mortgage fraud allegations.
“Cook must resign, now!!!” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social. The president’s calls for Cook to step down come after Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte said in a Wednesday X post that he was referring her to the Department of Justice (DOJ) over allegations that she committed mortgage fraud.
“U.S. Federal Housing FHFA, alleges in a Criminal Referral to the Department of Justice that Federal Reserve Governor, Lisa D. Cook, committed mortgage fraud by designating her out of state condo as her primary residence, just two weeks after taking a loan on her Michigan home where she also declared it as her primary residence,” Pulte wrote in a separate post to X. “When someone commits mortgage fraud, they undermine the faith and integrity of our System. It does not matter who you are – no one is above the law.” (RELATED: Top Fed Official To Quit, Giving Trump Key Vacancy To Fill)
“We have sent a Criminal Referral to the Department of Justice with regard to the allegations against Ms. Cook, and the DOJ should go wherever the facts may lead them,” Pulte wrote further.
Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell speaks with Lisa Cook, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, as he chairs a Federal Reserve Board open meeting discussing proposed revisions to the board’s supplementary leverage ratio standards at the Federal Reserve Board building in Washington, DC, on June 25, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“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 to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet. 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.”
Former President Joe Biden nominated Cook to the Board of Governors in 2022. Cook was reportedly recommended to Biden by Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost reelection in 2024 and is running to return to the Senate in the 2026 midterms.
Trump’s DOJ is similarly investigating Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff over alleged mortgage fraud.
The president has repeatedly lambasted Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for keeping interest rates high and called on him to resign in recent months. Similarly, Pulte has repeatedly called for Powell’s resignation this year.
However, Powell has reportedly told close allies and associates that he intends to serve out the rest of his term, which ends in May of next year.
A Federal Reserve Board spokesperson did not immediately have a comment on Trump’s call for Cook to resign.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect Cook’s statement, sent post-publication.
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