Trump schedules White House hearing on Lisa Cook

By Matt Grossman and Brian Schwartz President Trump has formed a committee to evaluate the mortgage-fraud allegations against Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook and has scheduled an in-person hearing at the White House for Nov. 5. Trump said Cook would "be examined" by the committee, which would then recommend whether to remove her from the Fed, according to a memo posted on the White House's website. The announcement marks a dramatic escalation in the president's long-running attempt to wield more control over the Fed and could deliver the unusual spectacle of a central-bank official arriving at the White House for a disciplinary meeting.

The central bank is set up to operate independently from the White House, an arrangement seen by economists as essential for allowing it to set interest rates without political considerations. Trump tried to fire Cook last year, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that she hadn't been given sufficient opportunity to present her case. The Trump memo lays out a step-by-step process to consider the allegations against Cook. The committee will include Kevin Hassett, the assistant to the president for economic policy.

It will also include the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the director of the Office of Government Ethics. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas and the OGE's current acting director, Keith Sonderling, who also serves as labor secretary, were both appointed by Trump. "Governor Cook shall appear at the hearing and be examined by the Committee, its representatives, and her legal counsel, if any," said a presidential memorandum dated Oct. 7.

" The memo said that the hearing would be closed to the public but will be transcribed. " "In light of the President's repeated statements that he has already decided to fire Governor Cook -- regardless of the facts and evidence -- we have grave doubts that this 'hearing' is a legitimate one that would conform to the law," the lawyers said. " The hearing will refocus attention on core questions of the Fed's independence and Trump's attempts to gain more control over how the central bank sets interest rates.

Trump has long complained that rates are too high and has taken unprecedented steps to pressure the Fed, including a criminal investigation of Jerome Powell, the former chair. In Trump's telling, the chairman he chose to succeed Powell, Kevin Warsh, has been prevented from cutting rates by a "very political" Fed board. Fed policymakers including Warsh voted unanimously to raise interest rates last month. Last year, Trump adviser Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, produced documents that he said showed Cook had listed more than one property as her "primary residence" on mortgage paperwork.

Trump seized on the discrepancy and attempted to fire Cook over the alleged misconduct, a decision he announced abruptly on social media. Cook was appointed to the Fed's board by President Joe Biden and is serving a term that runs until 2038. She sued to block her firing and has said she never committed mortgage fraud. The laws establishing the Fed say that top officials can be fired only "for cause," a legal term whose application to Fed officials had never been directly tested.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court largely sided with Cook, ruling that she couldn't be fired without some minimal procedural protections that would allow the evidence to be aired. Since the Supreme Court ruling, the president and some of his allies have continued to look for ways to potentially oust Cook from the board. This summer, a Trump aide sent Cook a letter outlining the mortgage-fraud allegations and asking her to respond. That appeared to be an attempt to follow the process requirements that the Supreme Court outlined.

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