Lisa Cook, a governor of the US Federal Reserve, is under fire. The Trump administration’s latest move has been to charge her with committing mortgage fraud. The immediate allegations have zeroed in on her extensive property holdings in and around Atlanta, Georgia. They matter to a bigger story behind the turf war— Trump’s attempt to wrest more power over the central bank.
As a result, Cook was able to purchase a home in Atlanta. He purchased a home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and maintains an investment property in Massachusetts. On May 28, 2021, Cook delivered a loan estimate LE doc to the lender. On it, she specifically noted in no uncertain terms that the Atlanta property would not be her primary residence. The document explicitly states, “Property Use: Vacation Home.” In addition, Cook never sought a homestead exemption on her Georgia residence as her primary home.
Bill Pulte, then-director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, led the administration’s campaign against Cook. He alleged that she had wrongly filed two residences as her main home. This claim casts doubt on her compliance with regulations for mortgage lenders. Pulte’s family has been the subject of similar political bullying. His father and stepmother purportedly filed change of primary residence declarations in both Michigan and Delaware, causing one Michigan town to rescind the tax exemption on the Jones family home and assess back taxes owed.
In the face of these allegations, Cook has repeatedly denied that she has done anything wrong with respect to her rental properties. She is no longer at the Federal Reserve. Simultaneously, she’s sued former President Trump to dispute her removal from the Federal Reserve Board.
The charges leveled against Cook illustrate a hostile environment around her nomination to the Federal Reserve. Other legal observers think this goof is just the beginning of a more sophisticated Trump play. For all of these reasons they assume he wants to tighten his grip on the institution.
“primary residence” – Administration officials led by Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency
Loan estimate paperwork obtained by Reuters shows that disclosure on the property’s intended use was required by Cook’s lender. It notes that, “unless Lender otherwise agrees in writing,” the designation of the property is critical in determining its status for tax purposes.