The reported investigation follows a legal battle over whether President Donald Trump has the authority to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve.
Who is Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook?
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, who was reappointed until 2038, refuses to argue that Trump fired her.
The U.S. Department of Justice reportedly has launched a mortgage fraud investigation into Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook, whom President Donald Trump is about to fire.
Both Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported on crime investigations. Reuters cited documents they saw and an anonymous source familiar with the probe. The journal cited multiple anonymous sources familiar with the probe.
“As expected, recognizing the flaws that challenge Governor Cook’s illegal dismissal, the administration is rushing to invent a new justification for its excess,” Cook’s lawyer, Abbe David Lowell, said in a statement.
“This Justice Department is probably the most politicized in American history – anything President Trump demands. He wants to be covered up, and they’re offering it,” Lowell said.
Reports show that Justice Department official and Trump’s loyalty Ed Martin is leading the investigation. Martin has been designated by Attorney General Pam Bondy to investigate potential mortgage fraud by civil servants. Martin took on the role after failing his bid to become a US lawyer for the District of Columbia. North Carolina Republican Sen. Tom Tillis (R-North Carolina) has decided not to support the nomination in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol to support Martin’s defendant.
The Justice Department has launched a similar investigation into New York Attorney General Leticia James. Letia James led civil real estate fraud cases against Trump and several of his family in New York.
In late August, Trump posted about the true society that he was firing Cook after determining that there was evidence that he made a false statement about his mortgage application. Cook fought back in a federal lawsuit, claiming that the president was not capable of making her in office. Her case is pending.
In his statement in response to the reported criminal investigation, Cook’s attorney Lowell said he began working on questions about how he and his client described his property in pending cases and continued to do so. These explanations “are not fraud, but it takes nothing to do with this DOJ’s new political investigation and it appears they’ve done it again,” he said.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to USA Today’s request for comment.
Contributions: Reuters;Bart Janssen – USA TODAY.
(This story has been updated with new information.))
