Roughly 600 economists, including former Biden and Obama staffers, signed an open letter pushing back on President Donald Trump’s move to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook as the Trump administration shared a video about her mortgage fraud.
The signatories include Nobel Laureates Joseph Stiglitz and many former Fed economists as well as Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein, who chaired the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, respectively.
Trump last week removed Cook from her position for alleged mortgage fraud. The economists said that Congress crafted the Federal Reserve Act to ensure that the Fed would be “insulated from day-to-day politics.”
It also stated that the Trump administration and officials are relying on “unproven accusations.”
As Breitbart News Economics Editor John Carney explained, Congress left the provision granting the president power to remove a Fed official for “cause” purposely vague to ensure “reason-giving over judicialization.”
“The President acted within his lawful authority by removing Cook for cause, and this action augments the Federal Reserve’s credibility and accountability for both the markets and the American people,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement in response to the economists’ letter.
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte on Tuesday shared a video saying he has “video proof” of Cook’s alleged mortgage fraud:
We have just received video proof that Lisa Cook’s declared “PRIMARY RESIDENCE” is being RENTED out to tenants. Cook RECENTLY CLAIMED to the U.S. Government that it was her PERSONAL RESIDENCE, but she’s renting it out?
“If you’re going to be in charge of the Federal Reserve, damn you better sure know how to fill out a mortgage application,” Pulte said.
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