Trump creates panel to investigate Fed Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage allegations

President Donald Trump has created a committee to investigate allegations that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook made false statements on mortgage documents, reopening his effort to remove her from the central bank. The White House memorandum is dated October 7 and sets a hearing for November 5. The panel will be made up of the White House economic policy adviser, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chair and the director of the Office of Government Ethics. The hearing will be closed to the public, last no more than four hours and be transcribed. The memorandum says Cook must attend, may submit evidence and witness statements, and must be shown the evidence the committee plans to consider. She may file a written statement by November 10. The panel will then send Trump factual and legal findings and recommend whether there is cause to remove her. That is an administrative inquiry; it is not a criminal trial and does not establish that the allegations are true. The allegations concern statements on one or more mortgage instruments. Cook has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime, the Associated Press reports. The Supreme Court’s June decision kept her in office while the case proceeded and said the removal process must provide notice and an opportunity to respond. The justices did not decide whether the underlying mortgage allegations were true; the court said those facts had not yet been evaluated under the relevant legal standards. The dispute matters beyond Cook’s job. Federal Reserve governors help set U.S. interest rates, and the law protects their staggered terms by allowing removal only for cause. Trump has repeatedly pressed the Fed to cut rates; Cook is one of the 12 voting members of its rate-setting committee. The new panel’s recommendation could therefore renew a wider fight over how much control a president can exert over monetary policy. Its findings and the administration’s next steps remain pending. Sources: [White House memorandum](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/10/establishment-of-a-committee-of-inquiry-to-investigate-allegations-of-false-statements-by-lisa-denell-cook/), [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/cook-federal-reserve-trump-debef61d38fbb6a74e84a57fe8e26fc5), and the [Supreme Court’s June opinion](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a312_5468.pdf).