As we’ve reported, President Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Monday for “cause” in light of her recent criminal referral regarding alleged mortgage fraud.
She has argued that the president has no authority to fire her, and that she’s filing suit against the administration.
But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News Business’ Maria Bartiromo Wednesday that there’s one notable thing that Cook hasn’t said—that she’s innocent.
There are two kinds of people — there are people who think that President Trump is putting undue pressure on the Fed, and there are people like President Trump and myself who think that if a Fed official committed mortgage fraud, that this should be examined, and that they shouldn’t be serving as one of the nation’s leading financial regulators.
And what we haven’t heard from Miss Cook is we haven’t heard her say “I didn’t do it.” We haven’t her say “I didn’t do it.”
Watch:
🚨 JUST IN: SCOTT BESSENT excoriates Democrat Fed Governor Lisa Cook for refusing to let President Trump fire her after she committed mortgage fraud pic.twitter.com/HjmDAK5Lj0
“We haven’t heard her say ‘I didn’t do it!’ She just keeps saying the president can’t remove her.”
“If a…
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 27, 2025
The DOJ is investigating whether in 2021 she misrepresented two properties as her primary residence within weeks of each other. That’s a no-no. RedState’s Bonchie wrote:
The criminal referral in question accused Cook of claiming her primary residence in Michigan on mortgage documents, only to turn around and do the same thing with a different property in Georgia just a month later. As the letter [firing her] notes, it seems improbable that such a thing could be done unknowingly.
U.S. Director of Federal Housing William Pulte, who made the criminal referral, seemingly has the receipts:
U.S. Federal Housing FHFA, alleges in a Criminal Referral to the Department of Justice that Federal Reserve Governor, Lisa D. Cook, committed mortgage fraud by designating her out of state condo as her primary residence, just two weeks after taking a loan on her Michigan home… pic.twitter.com/3hlknQ4yzF
— Pulte (@pulte) August 20, 2025
READ RELATED: CNN Makes Damning Admission About Fed Governor Firing, but Their Excuse Is Mind-Blowing
Fed Reserve Governor Lisa Cook Says She’s Not Going Anywhere, Trump Has ‘No Authority’ to Fire Her
Bessent continued, saying the Federal Reserve needs to be held accountable just like everyone else:
She keeps saying the president can’t remove her. The other thing too, I have called in the recent past for an internal review of all the Fed’s operations, and I have encouraged Chair Powell to do this on an internal basis before there is an external review and this is the kind of thing that needs to be addressed because the Fed is an unaccountable institution and its relationship with the American people depends on a high level of trust.
And incidents like this puncture that trust, so President Trump is trying to make sure that anyone who serves at this institution has the trust of the American people.
The Fed acts as an independent agency, but that doesn’t mean the Executive Branch has no role. According to their website, the Board is run by seven members, or “governors” serving staggered 14-year terms, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 says that a president can fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board—but only “for cause.”
“Cause” has never been precisely defined, and legal experts are divided over whether Trump’s move will survive legal challenges.
That being said, Bessent’s point is valid: where are Cook’s denials that she is entirely innocent of the allegations?
