White House claims Cook committed mortgage fraud

Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook has been targeted by the White House for removal.

Two months after he was blocked by the Supreme Court, President Donald Trump has resumed his effort to oust Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook as part of an effort to stack the central bank's board with allies.

Trump tried to fire Cook "for cause" last year on allegations of mortgage fraud, but the court ruled in June she wasn't given adequate opportunity to defend herself. The narrow ruling did not preclude her eventual removal.

Trump appointed Kevin Warsh in May as new chairman of the Fed after predecessor Jerome Powell's four-year term expired. The president had attacked Powell repeatedly for not aggressively reducing borrowing costs.

The current makeup of the 12-member Fed board that determines a key U.S. interest rate has three Trump appointees.

The president is aiming to reshape the board to surround Warsh with allies, but he has few options for doing so. Even if Cook were removed, the majority of the Fed's rate-setting panel would still consist of people not appointed by Trump.

On Aug. 5, the White House sent a letter to Cook's attorneys asking her to respond to allegations she made false statements on mortgage applications for several of her homes. The White House demanded a response in 21 days.

In a statement, Cook's lawyers said: "No matter what President Trump tries to do next, this much is clear under the facts and Supreme Court precedent - there is no valid cause for removing Governor Cook."

If the White House follows through, the Cook case would likely head back to the lower courts. Eventually it could end up back before the Supreme Court. So it could be months or far longer before the outcome is known.

The Fed last week left its benchmark interest rate unchanged even though inflation is running well above the bank's 2% target. The rate of inflation was 3.7% as of June.

Three of the 12 members of the Fed's rate-setting panel, however, voted to raise rates. And Wall Street is betting the Fed will raise rates before the end of the year to help slow down inflation.

Warsh has vowed to reduce inflation, but so far he's resisted a rate hike.

Trump on Friday claimed Warsh has been saddled with a "board that's very political" in an interview with Punchbowl News.

Wall Street investors and private economists, meanwhile, say it would be worrisome if a president could easily remove Fed board members and influence rate decisions.

"Central bank independence is critical for delivering price stability and keeping inflation expectations well anchored," said analysts Marco Casiraghi and Gang Lyu of Evercore ISI.

-Jeffry Bartash