SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Bill Pulte, the Trump administration official who has been hammering Lisa Cook, said he would hold a press conference Thursday morning in front of a Washington, DC, federal courthouse to present “new information” about the Federal Reserve board governor.
“Once you see what we present on Thursday, there’s going to be a lot of people apologizing and retracting their false and defamatory statements,” Pulte said on X Tuesday morning. “Watch.”
Pulte on Wednesday canceled the press conference, however, tweeting he was doing so “out of respect for the process.”
Now, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Cook.
The Justice Department is using grand juries and sending subpoenas as part of its investigation, according to the Journal.
The criminal investigation would mark a major escalation in the Trump administration’s war against Cook, whose term ends in 2038.
Trump published a letter in August saying he was firing Cook for “cause” based on a criminal referral from Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and says Cook lied on mortgage documents.
Pulte says Cook took out mortgages at around the same time for properties in Georgia and Michigan and said that each would be her primary residence.
Cook sued Trump last week, saying Pulte’s allegations didn’t meet the legal standard for a “cause” firing. The federal judge overseeing the case, US District Judge Jia Cobb, is weighing whether to issue a temporary restraining order confirming that Cook will remain in her job ahead of the Federal Reserve’s September 16 meeting and while additional litigation plays out.
Neither Pulte nor the Justice Department responded to requests for comment. Abbe Lowell, an attorney representing Cook, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
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