Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte said Thursday that he filed a second criminal referral to the Department of Justice against Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, whom President Donald Trump is attempting to fire.
Pulte said the new referral relates to a third mortgage at her Cambridge, Massachusetts, property. In government ethics filings, he has alleged misrepresentations about that condominium and two other homes in Michigan and Georgia, which she listed as her “primary residence” when she obtained mortgages in 2021 during her time as a Fed governor.
In the latest complaint, Pulte alleged that Cook took out a mortgage on the Massachusetts condo for $361,000, which she said was a second home, and claimed that less than a year later, Cook said she had earned between $15,000 and $50,000 in rental income and listed it as an investment property.
“Representing the property as a second home may have allowed Cook to secure a lower ‘Second Home’ mortgage down payment and rates, as investment properties typically carry higher down payments and higher rates due to increased risk,” Pulte wrote in the complaint.
Pulte was appointed to lead the FHFA by Trump earlier this year and has worked on Trump’s behalf in his anger with the Fed and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
Trump moved to fire Cook earlier this week after Pulte’s first criminal referral. The move teed up a contentious legal fight.
Cook filed a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday that claimed Trump’s move is “illegal” and is an effort to control the central bank. Her lawyers have categorized the mortgage dispute in Pulte’s first criminal referral as an unintentional “clerical error.”
IT IS UNCLEAR IF FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR LISA COOK SHOWED UP TO WORK AFTER TRUMP FIRING
A judge is expected to hear the case Friday morning on Cook’s push for a restraining order as she looks to remain in her role.
For months, Trump has unsuccessfully demanded that the Fed cut interest rates. Before his attempt to oust Cook, Trump had seriously considered firing Powell.