Lawyers for Lisa Cook call allegations of mortgage fraud “baseless” and say the investigation into the Federal Reserve governor should be dropped.
Lawyers for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook are responding to her criminal referral to the Justice Department over allegations of mortgage fraud, calling those allegations “baseless” in a new letter to the department.
“At the heart of the references and allegations of wrongdoing is a fundamental error and deliberate omission,” states the letter, obtained by ABC News, from Cook’s attorneys to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook attends a board meeting at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Oct. 24, 2025.
Aaron Schwartz/EPA/Shutterstock
As President Donald Trump seeks to reshape the balance of the Federal Reserve’s central banking system, the allegations against Cook have become the foundation of Trump’s strategy. effort to end it “for cause” in August.
According to the attorneys’ letter, the criminal references relate to properties Cook owns in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts.
Cook’s lawyers also criticize the man who made the referrals: Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Bill Pulte, who has made similar accusations against other enemies of the president, criticizing what they say is his “partisan use of the criminal diversion process.”
“Director Pulte’s decision to use the FHFA to selectively (and publicly) investigate and attack the President’s designated political enemies gives rise to the unmistakable impression that he has been inadequately coordinating with the White House to fabricate flimsy predicates to launch these investigations,” the letter states.
As such, Cook’s lawyers asked that the investigation be dropped.
Neither the Department of Justice nor the FHFA immediately responded to ABC News’ requests for comment on the lawyers’ letter.
