New documents obtained by Reuters contradict allegations made by a Trump administration bureaucrat that Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook committed mortgage fraud.
Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte had previously claimed to have unearthed documents indicating Cook, who had been unwilling to follow President Donald Trump's demands to lower interest rates, had declared two separate residences as her primary home in mortgage statements, which, depending on the jurisdiction, can be against the law when it causes banks to lend under more favorable terms.
But according to Reuters, "A loan estimate for an Atlanta home purchased by Lisa Cook ... shows that Cook had declared the property as a 'vacation home.'"
"The document, dated May 28, 2021, was issued to Cook by her credit union in the weeks before she completed the purchase and shows that she had told the lender that the Atlanta property wouldn’t be her primary residence," said the report. "The document appears to counter other documentation that Cook’s critics have cited in support of their claims that she committed mortgage fraud by reporting two different homes as her primary residence, two independent real-estate experts said."
The revelation could be an obstacle to Trump's efforts to fire Cook from the Federal Reserve, which he justified by pointing to Pulte's unproven allegations. Cook has filed a lawsuit challenging her dismissal as unlawful.
Pulte, whose agency oversees the government-sponsored housing finance entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has issued similar mortgage fraud claims against other Trump critics, including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom deny any wrongdoing.
A recent report found that Pulte's own father and stepmother may have been pulling that exact scheme on properties in Michigan and Florida. Upon Reuters' investigation into the matter, officials in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, revoked the couple's homestead exemption.