FHFA Chair Pulte Posts New Criminal Referral Against Fed Governor Lisa Cook. But Is It Really Mortgage Fraud Or Politics?

FHFA Chair Pulte has escalated the fight between the Trump Administration and Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook. Trump is accusing Cook of mortgage fraud.  Trump is desperately trying to get control of the Federal Reserve board. Why? It’s because the Federal Reserve refuses to cower to Trump’s demand to lower interest rates. 

Cook filed a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration. Her lawyers have also have filed a lawsuit filed to block the administration from firing her. They have also sent summons to high ranking Trump Administration officials.

Trump can only fire her for over a criminal act. So, he got FHFA Bill Pulte to dig into her mortgage records. As a result, Pulte posted a new criminal referral suggesting multiple instances of mortgage fraud.

What FHFA Chair Pulte’s Criminal Referrals Alleges

The new redacted referral Pulte posted on social media involves properties Cook purchased in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Ann Arbor, Michigan. In Addition to a property in Atlanta, Georgia. The alleged concern that Pulte flagged relates to the Cambridge condo. Can Cook rent it out several months after she represented it to be an investment property? 

The fact that Pulte posted the referral on X shows this is politics. The criminal referral is vague. There are a million legitimate reasons why Cook answered the questions the way she did. Did she lie on mortgage applications or government disclosures? It’s anyone’s guess. However, the accusations as they stand are a stretch. 

IRS guidelines say you can rent out a second home when you are not using it. Matter of fact, federal guidelines say you only have to live in the property for 14 days a year. Pulte should know this since his family has been in construction and home finance since the 1950s. 

Pulte stated in his referral:

“By potentially falsely representing the property as a second home, Cook may have received savings by not declaring it as an investment property,”

The FHFA Chair Pulte has anointed himself as a sort of national mortgage fraud sheriff. He has devoted himself to harassing Trump political foes over alleged misstatements in mortgage applications. Then he asks the Justice Department to investigate them. 

But Pulte’s attacks on Cook and others invite scrutiny of his own past dealings.

Lisa Cook Responds By Issuing TRO And Summons To Trump, Powell, and Bondi

Earlier this week, Cook filed a lawsuit seeking to block her firing. The lawsuit also included summons issued to President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Cooks lawyers also issued summons to members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. 

Cook’s court filing calls for an emergency TRO to be put in place until the courts can consider the case. The lawsuit seeks to enjoin the Federal Reserve board members from “effectuating in any manner Governor Cook’s illegal purported removal.”

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