Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said she has “no intention of being bullied to step down.”
Her defiant response was directed to Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), who had sent a criminal referral letter Friday to the Department of Justice accusing Cook of alleged mortgage fraud.
She responded to the allegations in a statement provided by the Federal Reserve Board, attributable to Cook.
“I learned from the media that FHFA Director William Pulte posted on social media that he was making a criminal referral based on a mortgage application from four years ago, before I joined the Federal Reserve,” she stated.
“I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” Cook added. “I do intend to take any questions about my financial history seriously as a member of the Federal Reserve and so I am gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts.”
Pulte responded with a social media post: “Write anything you or your attorneys want Miss Cook, you’ve been caught based on mortgage documents, not a tweet. It’s black and white. We go after people who commit mortgage fraud, and you signed the mortgage documents, no one else. And you did it within 14 days of each other.”
The FHFA director, who is also chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, followed up a minute later, stating: “Miss Cook, You’ve destroyed yourself, I’m just doing my job.”
Cook, who has a Ph.D. in economics from University of California, Berkeley, is alleged by Pulte to have committed mortgage fraud by claiming two homes as her primary residence to get better rates, and then allegedly received investment income by renting out one of the properties.
“Such misconduct jeopardizes the security and stability of the U.S. mortgage market,” Pulte stated in the letter.
In a string of previous posts, Pulte said he thinks “the Department of Justice, if they open an investigation, should also look to see any potential criminal conspiracy, perhaps to cover up, that may or may not be developing behind the scenes, today.”
