Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s lawsuit against President Donald Trump hinges on a trio of mortgages she took out before she joined the nation’s central bank.
The loans, tied to properties in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts, have drawn scrutiny over whether she misrepresented how the homes would be used. Trump seized on those allegations in his bid to oust her from her role as a Federal Reserve governor, the panel of central bankers that is tasked with charting the nation’s economic path.
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Cook’s lawsuit argues that Trump’s move to fire her is unlawful and undermines the Federal Reserve’s independence. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court on Aug. 28, does not address the allegations that Cook listed two houses as a primary residence on mortgage filings.
The allegations originated with Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the federal agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte tied Cook to the three properties in two separate referrals to the Justice Department.
On Thursday, the Justice Department confirmed to Fox News that it had launched a criminal investigation into Cook over allegations of mortgage application fraud.
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The trio of mortgage loans, now part of the DOJ probe, were issued in 2021 and before Cook was nominated as a Federal Reserve governor by former President Joe Biden.
At issue are the preferential terms that come with primary-residence loans, which lenders typically view as lower risk than mortgages for vacation homes or rental properties.
In Cook’s latest financial disclosure report, which is required of federal officials, she lists all three mortgages along with her income, retirement accounts and investments. She electronically signed the report and filed it to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on June 15, 2025.
The report, which is 12 pages long, shows that Cook earned more than $50,000 a year in rental income from her Cambridge, Massachusetts, condominium.
Pulte claimed in a letter to the Justice Department that Cook did not represent the Cambridge condominium as an investment property to the lender. He said she claimed the residence as a second home.
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Cook bought the condo in 2002 when she was a professor at Harvard University. For this property, she obtained a 15-year loan for $361,000 at a rate of 2.5% in April 2021.
Two months later, Cook secured a mortgage for a three-bedroom home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The 15-year loan for $203,000 at a 2.87% rate through the University of Michigan Credit Union covered the 1,800-square-foot property.
At the time, she taught economics and international relations at Michigan State University, roughly an hour’s drive away.
Cook also obtained a $540,000, 30-year mortgage for a luxury condo above the Four Seasons hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.
The loan, issued by the Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union, carried a 3.25% interest rate.
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In that loan agreement, Cook “affirmed that this property would serve as her primary residence within 60 days of the execution of the mortgage and would serve as her primary residence for a full year,” according to Pulte’s referral letter to the Justice Department.
Cook has not explained why both the Michigan and Georgia homes are listed as her primary residence. Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote in a filing on Sept. 2 that she “did not ever commit mortgage fraud.”
Lowell has previously represented Hunter Biden, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez, New York Attorney General Letitia James as well as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
Cook’s lawyers and government attorneys head back to court on Sept. 4 in what will likely be a case that is kicked up to the Supreme Court.
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