The president of the United States, Donald Trump, intensified his legal battle against the Federal Reserve (Fed) renew your request to a appeal court to dismiss Lisa Cook of the Board of Governors of the American Central Bank, in an unprecedented movement that coincides with the imminent meeting on the Fed monetary policy this Wednesday.
In a presentation made this Sunday, the lawyers of the American president argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Columbia district that The legal foundations wielded by Cook to maintain their position “lack legal support”.
An unpublished case in more than a century
This confrontation marks a milestone in the history of the US financial system: es The first time in the 112 years of existence of the Federal Reserve that a president tries to dismiss a member of its Board of Directorschallenging the traditional independence of the monetary institution.
“The public and the executive share an interest in guaranteeing the integrity of the Federal Reserve,” said Trump’s lawyers in their last presentation. “And that requires respecting the president’s statutory authority to dismiss the governors ‘for cause’ when said cause arises”.
Real estate fraud accusations
The conflict originated when Bill Abute, appointed by Trump to direct the regulatory agency of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud. According to the complaints, The official would have falsely declared that both a property in Atlanta and a house in Ann ArborMichigan; both acquired in June 2021; They constituted their “Main Residence”.
About raised a criminal complaint to the Department of Justice, which opened an investigation into the case. Trump used these accusations as the basis for saying goodbye to Cook “for just cause”.
However, documents obtained by AP reveal inconsistencies in the official version: Cook referred to condominium as a “holiday house” in a loan estimate and as “second house” in a security authorization formcharacterizations that could weaken fraud statements.
The judicial response and political timing
Cook, who became the first African -American woman to integrate the Board of Governors of the Fed, did not stay with crossed arms. He sued the Trump administration to block his dismissal and won an initial victory: A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that his removal was illegal and ordered his immediate reinstatement.
Cook’s defense argued on Saturday that the White House “It has not demonstrated enough cause to say goodbye” and warned about the economic and institutional risks of allowing a president to remove governors of the Fed without adequate justification.
The timing of this legal battle is not accidental. The Trump administration appealed the ruling and requested an emergency decision precisely before this week’s Fed meeting, in what is interpreted as U Un attempt to influence the composition of the Board of Directors before the crucial vote on interest rates.
This episode represents the boldest White House effort to mold the historically independent Federal Reservegenerating concerns in markets on the autonomy of US monetary policy in the Trump era.
Source: Ambito
