President Trump has sought to oust Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve on grounds that she has committed mortgage fraud, by falsifying crucial records to obtain more favorable terms on a home loan.
But new documents reviewed by The New York Times appear to add to the uncertainty surrounding some of the Trump administration’s claims. They raise the possibility that Ms. Cook did not try to deceive lenders about one of the properties when she purchased it before joining the board of the nation’s central bank in 2022.
Ms. Cook bought the property, a condominium in Atlanta, in 2021. The president and his top aides have accused Ms. Cook of incorrectly claiming both the condo and another property in Michigan, purchased weeks earlier, as her primary residence, seemingly in a bid to secure a lower interest rate on a mortgage.
Mr. Trump and his aides contend that this represents fraud, though Ms. Cook has not been charged with or convicted of a crime. But a set of financial records reviewed by the Times — a preliminary loan estimate from a credit union dated May 2021 — offers a possible competing view.
The documents instead classify that Atlanta residence as a “vacation home.” Similar language appears in a second set of records, furnished later that year to the government ahead of Ms. Cook’s confirmation to the Fed. In those heavily redacted submissions, the Atlanta condo is described as a “2nd home.”
Together, the records do not resolve the mystery surrounding Ms. Cook, who has said little about her own finances even after Mr. Trump took the extraordinary step last month of trying to fire her. Mr. Trump’s actions have touched off a landmark legal battle, which could see him expand his power to dismiss members of the central bank, potentially eroding its independence from political interference.
The disclosures do not appear to be legal documents, and they do not prove that Ms. Cook was transparent about her intended use of the property throughout the loan application process. But they do suggest that she may have told her lender about her plans at least once.
Lawyers for Ms. Cook declined to comment on the disclosures, which were first reported by Reuters.
The new revelations did not appear to satisfy Ms. Cook’s critics in the Trump administration. The man at the forefront of her ouster — Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who first broadcast allegations of fraud — signaled that the newly released records did not absolve Ms. Cook of wrongdoing.
“Dr. Cook represents herself as an extremely accomplished financial operator,” Mr. Pulte said Saturday in a post on social media. “If Dr. Cook solicited estimates as a vacation home and then entered into a mortgage agreement as a primary residence, that is extremely concerning, and in my opinion, evidences further intent to defraud.”
Mr. Pulte previously referred the matter to the Justice Department, which has opened a criminal investigation into Ms. Cook. He said in a second post on social media this weekend: “The idea that she got estimates and then declared it as a primary on her mortgage agreement is even more concerning for Dr. Cook.”
The new evidence arrived as the Trump administration forged ahead with its attempts to block Ms. Cook from attending a pivotal Fed meeting this coming week, at which the central bank is expected to lower interest rates. The government filed its emergency request with an appeals court on Thursday, seeking to reverse an earlier decision by a lower court, which had blocked the president from firing Ms. Cook.
The lower court judge ruled that Mr. Trump had failed to identify sufficient cause for dismissing Ms. Cook under the Federal Reserve Act, finding that it had to involve behavior while she served as a governor and relate to the job itself. Ms. Cook’s lawyers have argued that any attempt to prevent her from attending the Fed meeting next week could rattle financial markets.
Kate Kelly contributed reporting.
Tony Romm is a reporter covering economic policy and the Trump administration for The Times, based in Washington.
Ben Casselman is the chief economics correspondent for The Times. He has reported on the economy for nearly 20 years.
Colby Smith covers the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for The Times.
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