MAGA ANTI D.E.I. IS RACIST SEXISM
By AFP
PublishedAugust 20, 2025
US President Donald Trump said Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook should resign, citing unconfirmed allegations related to mortgage fraud, after broadsides on Fed Chair Jerome Powell this year - Copyright AFP Camille Cohen
Beiyi SEOW
President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on the US central bank Wednesday, calling for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to step down — after his recent criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates sooner.
“Cook must resign, now!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, while sharing a Bloomberg news report on how the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s director has called for greater scrutiny of Cook over a pair of mortgages.
FHFA director Bill Pulte — a staunch ally of Trump — had reportedly written a letter to the US attorney general calling for an investigation of Cook while suggesting that she might have committed a criminal offense.
The Trump administration has pursued allegations of mortgage fraud against high-profile Democrats who are seen as political adversaries of the president.
It was not immediately clear if such a probe will take place targeting Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the central bank’s board.
The president is also limited in his ability to remove officials from the central bank.
A Supreme Court order recently suggested that Fed officials cannot be taken out of their jobs over policy disagreements, meaning they have to be removed for “cause,” which could be interpreted to mean wrongdoing.
– ‘A disaster’ –
The US leader’s targeting of Cook, who sits on the Fed’s rate-setting committee, comes after his repeated broadsides against Powell while the central bank kept the benchmark lending rate unchanged this year.
On Tuesday night, Trump again called for a “major rate cut,” saying there was “no inflation” and claiming that the Fed’s policymaking was harming the housing industry due to elevated mortgage rates.
He called Powell “a disaster” in a social media post.
Although the US consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, was steady at 2.7 percent in July, it remains higher than it was a few months earlier.
Fed officials have been trying to ensure inflation is kept in check — despite the effects of Trump’s sweeping tariffs — while balancing risks to the labor market as they mull the right time for further rate cuts.
Cook took office as a Fed governor in May 2022 and was reappointed to the board in September 2023. She was sworn in later that same month for a term ending in 2038.
She has previously served on the Council of Economic Advisers under former president Barack Obama.
Earlier this year, Trump suggested that what he called an overly costly renovation of the Fed’s headquarters could be a reason to oust Powell, before backing off the threat.
Powell’s term as Fed chair ends in May 2026.
Fed official hits back after Trump's attack: 'I have no intention of being bullied'
RAW STORY
FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook speaks at the Economic Club of New York in New York City, U.S., June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
A Federal Reserve governor on Wednesday hit back against President Donald Trump's latest attack.
Trump called on Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to sit on the central bank's board, to resign in a post on the social media network that he owns. The post followed Bloomberg's report on a letter, dated Aug. 15, that was sent by Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte to the Justice Department, urging them to investigate several mortgages Cook took out in recent years.
“Cook must resign, now!!!” Trump's post reads.
"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's statement reads. "I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet."
Trump has recently asked for political rivals like New York Attorney General Letitia James to be investigated for potential mortgage fraud. Trump has also appointed lawyer Ed Martin, who defended Jan. 6 insurrectionists in court, to lead investigations of mortgage fraud. Martin's name also appears on the letter Pulte authored.
"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," Cook added.
No comments:
Post a Comment