United President Donald Trump has ordered the removal of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook amid unproven claims of mortgage fraud.
In a letter posted on social media on Monday night, Trump said Cook was being sacked “effective immediately”, in accordance with his powers under the US Constitution and the 1913 Federal Reserve Act.
Citing allegations made last week by the US federal mortgage regulator, Trump said there was “sufficient reason to believe you may have made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements”.
“The Federal Reserve has tremendous responsibility for setting interest rates and regulating reserve and members banks,” Trump said in the letter, which was shared on his platform Truth Social.
“The American people must be able to have full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve. In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter, they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.”
“At a minimum, the conduct that issue exhibits the sort of gross negligence in financial transactions that calls into question your competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator,” Trump added.
Trump had on Friday threatened to fire Cook, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, if she did not resign.
The Federal Reserve did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Trump’s extraordinary move is set to raise further questions about the independence of the US central bank, which has been under intense pressure from Trump to lower interest rates.
The removal could also set off a series of protracted legal challenges.
Under the Federal Reserve Act and US Supreme Court precedent, the president must demonstrate “cause”, widely interpreted to mean malfeasance, in order to fire any of central bank’s seven governors.
In a letter addressed to US Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Justice official Ed Martin earlier this month, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, a staunch Trump ally, alleged that Cook had listed two properties as her primary home addresses.
In response to Pulte’s letter, which he shared on social, Cook said she would gather information about her financial history “to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts,” but she had “no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.”
More to follow…
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