Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook received more than $1 million from benefactors to cover legal and security costs in 2025 following President Trump’s attempt to fire her.
The Wall Street Journal, citing an annual financial disclosure published Thursday, reports that Cook’s paid roughly $1.2 million in legal fees, with approximately $700,000 in financial assistance coming from Democracy Defenders Fund, a nonprofit opposed to Trump administration policies. Smaller sums came from additional donors, while other entities offered free legal and security services.
Cook was the subject of criminal referrals made by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who accused her of mortgage fraud. Trump seized on these referrals to fire Cook, marking the first time that a president attempted to forcibly remove a Federal Reserve governor from office. Cook, who has not been indicted, sued the administration and her case is now being considered by the US Supreme Court, which is expected to render a judgment later this month.
Cook’s 2025 disclosure listed her as the owner of two of the properties that were the target of attempts by the administration to accuse of her mortgage fraud. Cook’s residences in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, are being used as rental properties, from which she reported receiving between $65,000 and $150,000 in rent last year.
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