Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said in a Sunday interview that Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook should release her mortgage documents to dispel claims of fraud coming from the Trump administration, which is seeking her ouster.
Pressed in an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” Khanna said Cook should release the documents to prove that the claims are nothing more than political.
“Well, sure, she should release them,” he said when asked whether he would advise Cook to do so. “She should be transparent so that we see that this is just a political football.”
Khanna added, however, that the mortgage fraud claims are really just Trump “hiding an economic record” that the progressive lawmaker said he should not be proud of, citing falling consumer confidence, an uptick in farm closures, shrinking manufacturing and higher unemployment for young adults.
“This is a record of economic failure, and the reason it is failing is because of blanket tariffs, because of mass deportation, including immigrants who are paying taxes, and because of interference with the Fed and expertise,” Khanna said. “It’s time for a new economic direction.”
Trump moved to fire Cook earlier this week after she refused to resign following allegations by Bill Pulte, a Trump ally and the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, that she committed mortgage fraud by listing two primary residences. Trump said he would try to fire Cook if she did not resign.
The Federal Reserve Act says the president can only remove members of the governing board “for cause.” The courts have never weighed exactly what that means because no president has sought to remove a Fed governor, until earlier this week.
In his letter to Cook on Monday, Trump pointed to the mortgage fraud allegations as “cause” to fire her.
She subsequently sued the president on Thursday over his “unprecedented and illegal attempt” to remove her from her position. Cook argues in her complaint that the allegations, which she has not had a chance to respond to, outside the legal action, don’t meet the legal requirements to cut her loose.
“President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally redefine ‘cause’ — completely unmoored to caselaw, history, and tradition — and conclude, without evidence, that he has found it,” the complaint reads.
