The battle for control of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors continued on multiple fronts this morning as Fed Gov. Lisa Cook sued President Trump for his attempt to fire her while Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte claimed he is going to be a target of a New York Times “hit piece.”
Cook’s 24-page lawsuit which was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, stated Trump’s attempt to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud were “unprecedented and illegal,” adding that it was part of the administration’s pressure campaign to force the central bank to lower interest rates. Cook listed the Fed and its chairman, Jerome H. Powell, as co-defendants, citing their ability to potentially follow Trump’s orders. Cook has her own attorney and is not represented by the Fed’s legal team.
While the president claimed he had the right to fire Fed officials for cause the lawsuit argued, “The unsubstantiated mortgage fraud allegations that allegedly occurred prior to Governor Cook’s Senate confirmation do not amount to ‘inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, nor has the president alleged that they do.” The lawsuit also warned that Trump’s actions represented a threat to the historic independence of the Fed from Executive Branch interference.
Cook, who has not been charged with any crime, asked the court that she remain in her position while the case plays out. This would enable her to vote in the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on rate policy in September.
While Cook was in District Court, Pulte was in the court of public opinion. On his personal X account, Pulte announced he is going to be the victim of a negative profile in one of the nation’s most important newspapers.
Pulte declared, “‘Matthew Goldstein’ of the New York Times, instead of reporting on Mortgage Fraud, is trying to ‘dig up dirt’ on my old colleagues, friends, family because I dare to expose Mortgage Fraud. This is all to run cover, in my opinion, for Crooks. Expect a hit piece from NYT.”
It is not clear why Pulte put Matthew Goldstein’s name in quotation marks, since it is not a pseudonym. Pulte also commented on the Cook lawsuit by sarcastically declaring, “I wonder why she didn’t put her personal address on the lawsuit.” Earlier, he also proclaimed on X, “Tax fraud often accompanies mortgage fraud.”
She mortgaged 2 houses within two weeks of each other, claiming them both as a principal address. This is mortgage fraud.
She’s in charge of our interest rates and she has voted not to lower them.
Yet she claimed both of her residences as principle residences to lower her own interest rate
Let that sink in
You do know Trump did the same thing, Right? They both should be reprimanded, right?
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Mortgage fraud has been wide spread for some time. People shouldn’t throw rocks if they live in glass houses. I’m for elected government representatives and/or employees being held accountable for their actions in the case of mortgage fraud. They all deserve their day in court before they are terminated. Mortgage fraud is contract fraud. They signed a contract stating that what they gave as their personal information was true and correct. While there are greater sins of criminal activity that they could commit mortgage fraud is no laughing matter. And so the rhetoric is now moving into the legal process and lets see how it all turns out……
President Trump’s legal issue regarding fraudulently claiming a primary residence
is the same as Cook’s status.
This is found online: while doing a fact check: Collectively, these facts have resulted in claims that Trump violated election law in either the 2018 election, the 2020 election, or both. For 2018, the argument is that Trump voted in New York despite declaring himself a resident of Florida before that election. For 2020, the argument is that Trump illegally voted in Florida because he used a business address as his residential address.
Both claims lack merit. Trump’s voting behavior in both 2018 and 2020 was legal under both state and federal election law.
Despite changing his official residence prior to the 2018 midterm election, Trump met all of New York State’s residency requirements to be a voter there. New York election law explicitly allows a person with multiple residences to pick one for voting purposes. Further, New York state law explicitly indicates that a voter’s registration address does not have to be that person’s declared “domicile.” The New York Board of Elections allows for a broad interpretation of New York residency, and factors determining residency can include, in part, “business pursuits, and “sites of personal and real property owned by the applicant.” For these reasons, and because he did not vote in any other jurisdiction in 2018, Trump did not commit voter fraud, despite changing his domicile from New York to Florida prior to voting.
Also, despite the fact that Trump is in a legal fight with his Florida neighbors and local government over his residency there, Trump broke no Florida election law by voting from that address. It is true that Trump in the early 1990s he signed a contract that re-zoned Mar-a-Lago as a business and stipulated that the property could not be used as a single-family home. However, though Trump may be violating local zoning laws, Florida, like New York, allows for broad interpretation of residency. The Florida elections handbook explicitly states (emphasis ours) that “a business address is not typically a satisfactory legal residential address but if the person resides there despite the zoning ordinance, the address could become the person’s legal residential address.” Trump regularly resides there and has indicated he plans to continue to do so in spite of any zoning ordinance issue. For that reason, and because he did not vote in any other jurisdiction in 2020, Trump did not commit voter fraud when he voted using his Mar-a-Lago address in 2020……
For me, Cook knew exactly what she was doing.