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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s legal battle against President Donald Trump centered, in part, on a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the nation’s central bank.
The loans, tied to properties in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts, drew scrutiny regarding whether Cook misrepresented how the homes would be used — as primary residences or otherwise. Trump cited those allegations in his effort to boot her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, arguing they constituted cause for her removal.
The Supreme Court ultimately ruled 5-4 that Cook can remain on as a Fed governor while her separate lawsuit challenging her firing proceeds.
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Cook challenged Trump’s attempt to oust her in federal court, arguing that the move was unlawful and threatened the Federal Reserve’s independence. Her lawsuit, filed Aug. 28, did not address allegations that she listed two homes as a primary residence on mortgage documents.
The allegations originated with Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee who oversees the federal agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte, who is now acting Director of National Intelligence, linked Cook to the trio of properties in referrals sent to the Justice Department, which later confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into allegations of mortgage application fraud.
The mortgages cited in the Justice Department probe were issued in 2021, before former President Joe Biden nominated Cook to the Federal Reserve Board.
At issue were the preferential terms that come with primary-residence loans, which lenders typically view as lower risk than mortgages for vacation homes or rental properties.
Cook disclosed all three mortgages in a financial filing with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in June 2025, listing them alongside her income, retirement accounts and investments.
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The filing also showed that Cook earned more than $50,000 a year in rental income from her Cambridge, Massachusetts, condominium. Pulte alleged in his DOJ referral that Cook represented the Cambridge condominium as a second home rather than an investment property, despite reporting rental income from the unit.
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.
She 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 publicly explained why both the Michigan and Georgia properties were designated as her primary residence.
Her attorney, Abbe Lowell, denied the allegations in a Sept. 2 filing, writing that Cook “did not ever commit mortgage fraud.”
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