President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the resignation of a Federal Reserve governor after one of his allies submitted a referral requesting that she be investigated for mortgage fraud.
Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte on Wednesday posted a copy of a referral he sent to the Department of Justice regarding mortgage fraud allegations against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The news was first reported by Bloomberg.
Trump posted about the story on his Truth Social platform and wrote, “Cook must resign, now!!!”
In his letter, Pulte accused Cook of having “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud under the criminal statute.”
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Pulte alleged in the referral letter that Cook falsely claimed primary residence status for a pair of homes located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta, Georgia, when she obtained mortgages on them 14 days apart.
In a separate post on X, Pulte posted pictures purporting to show Cook’s signature from documents for both mortgages, which he captioned as claiming primary residence status – though the images don’t contain that information from the documents.
Cook pushed back on Pulte’s allegations and referral in a statement provided to FOX Business by the Federal Reserve:
“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. I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet. 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 said.
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Pulte’s criminal referral of Cook and Trump’s call for her to resign comes amid the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against the Federal Reserve, as the president has repeatedly called for the central bank to cut interest rates.
Trump has threatened to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell on several occasions, though he has since backed down from an effort to remove Powell before the end of his term as chairman in May 2026 amid legal questions about his ability to fire Powell without cause.
Trump, Pulte and allies viewed the Fed’s costly renovation of its Washington, D.C., headquarters building as potentially providing cause – using the controversy as a platform to call for Powell’s firing or resignation.
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On July 11, Pulte released a statement on the FHFA website and social media alluding to unspecified reports that Powell was preparing to resign, writing that “I’m encouraged by reports that Jerome Powell is considering resigning. I think this will be the right decision for America, and the economy will boom.”
Powell has signaled he intends to serve out the remainder of his term as chairman.
Pulte’s referral comes as the Federal Reserve is kicking off its annual monetary policy conference this week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Powell is scheduled to deliver a highly-anticipated speech on Friday morning that could provide insights into how the central bank views the latest economic data and the path for potential interest rate cuts.
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