TechFlow, September 5 — According to Jinshi Data, the U.S. Department of Justice has presented new arguments justifying why President Trump should be allowed to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, calling her claims of a "pretext for rate cuts" entirely baseless. Cook, accused of mortgage fraud, is currently challenging her removal. On Thursday, U.S. government lawyers again urged a judge to deny Cook’s request for an injunction blocking her dismissal during litigation, reinforcing arguments made at last week’s hearing.
Hours before this legal filing, reports emerged that the Department of Justice had launched a criminal investigation into Cook. The U.S. government contends that the fraud allegations—first raised by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Pelton—constitute sufficient "cause" under U.S. law for Trump to fire her.
In Thursday’s filing, the Justice Department emphasized that judges must not “second-guess” Trump’s determination that he had cause for removal, and reiterated its rejection of the claim that the dismissal was really aimed at controlling the Fed and forcing rate cuts. “Her only ‘evidence’ is that the President criticized the Fed’s policies,” the filing stated. “But policy disagreements alone do not mean the President fired her for that reason.”
