
President Trump said Friday he would fire Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook over allegations she committed mortgage fraud if she does not resign, which Cook has indicated she will not do.
“Yeah, I’ll fire her if she doesn’t resign. What she did was bad. So I’ll fire her if she doesn’t resign,” Trump told reporters during a stop at The People’s House exhibition near the White House.
Trump called for Cook to resign Wednesday following allegations by Bill Pulte, a Trump ally and the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, that she committed mortgage fraud.
Pulte said his agency sent a criminal referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the allegations against Cook.
In his series of posts, Pulte included photographs of document signatures apparently belonging to Cook that allegedly applied to two different primary residences, one in Michigan and another described as an “Atlanta condo.”
Cook responded by saying she would not be “bullied” into leaving her post, which would give Trump the ability to appoint her replacement.
“I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” she said in a statement. “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.”
The president can fire members of the Federal Reserve board for cause, but it’s unclear if the allegations alone would reach that standard.
Trump has for months aggressively attacked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and broadly criticized other members of the Fed board over their decision not to lower interest rates.
Powell said Friday the central bank faces “significant uncertainty” as it attempts to navigate the impact of Trump’s policies, suggesting the bank could cut rates soon.
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