JUST IN: DOJ Opens Criminal Investigation Into Infamous Fed Official Lisa Cook

The U.S. Department of Justice has formally opened a criminal investigation into Lisa Cook, the former governor of the Federal Reserve, whom President Donald Trump fired last week after authorities uncovered evidence of mortgage fraud.

Cook is suing to return to her role on the powerful seven-member Board of Governors, which oversees the nation’s interest rates on everything from bank loans to mortgages and credit cards. Trump’s move came after his appointee at the Federal Housing Finance Agency referred Cook to the DOJ, claiming that Cook attempted to list her primary residence in two locations to secure more favorable loan terms.

Now, subpoenas are flying as federal prosecutors investigate whether Cook included fraudulent information in her mortgage applications for properties in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Atlanta. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that grand juries have been convened to explore the possibility of bringing criminal charges.

Trump cited the referral of Cook by William Pulte, Director of the FHFA, as a reason to fire her. Cook, who was appointed in 2022 by former President Joe Biden, stymied his ability to overrule Fed Chair Jerome Powell and control a majority of the board.

Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the outlet.

But in a filing last month, Lowell argued that Cook’s firing was “concocted” as a basis for firing her from a post she was slated to hold until 2036. Trump did so, her attorney alleged, so he can “forward his agenda to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve.”

The Federal Reserve Act allows the president to fire a governor “for cause,” although the ambiguity of the clause has given Trump the room to push for Cook’s ouster, even if the charges don’t stick. Cook’s lawyers argued in court filings last week that she “did not ever commit mortgage fraud.”

Her criminal referral is the third by Pulte, a fierce Trump ally, against Democratic officials or their appointees in recent months. He has done the same against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who prosecuted Trump in his real estate case, as well as U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a central figure in the J6 committee.

Coordinating with the DOJ on Cook’s probe is Ed Martin, Trump’s failed nominee to head the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., and who now occupies a powerful post at the DOJ.

Paperwork turned over to investigators by Pulte indicates that Cook listed both properties as her primary residence in 2021. To achieve a conviction, the government must prove Cook’s intent to deceive mortgage authorities, a higher standard than simply showing misstatements on paperwork, the Journal noted.