Fed governor Lisa Cook called condo a second home, documents show

Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook described an Atlanta property now under intense scrutiny from the Trump administrationas a vacation home or a second homein multiple documents in 2021, records show.

In a loan estimate for Cook’s Atlanta condo prepared by her lender, the home’s “property use” is described as “vacation home,” according to the document dated May 2021 and obtained by the Washington Post. And in a December 2021 form submitted to the Biden administration for her nomination to the central bank, Cook listed the Atlanta property as a second home under a question about vacation homes and other “additional” properties.

President Donald Trump is trying to fire Cook from her seat on the Fed, citing accusations that she committed mortgage fraud by calling more than one of her homes a primary or personal residence, which can sometimes help people secure lower mortgage rates. The president can remove Fed board members “for cause,” and the administration says the fraud accusation is enough to act.

Cook has sued to keep her seat, arguing that the allegations are unproven. The Justice Department has opened an investigation, but no charges have been filed. Earlier this week, a federal judge temporarily halted Cook’s firing, saying Trump’s attempt to fire her was probably illegal. The Justice Department quickly appealed and has asked for a ruling before next week’s Fed board meeting.

The documents, first reported by Reuters on Friday evening, appear to indicate that at least at some point before Cook closed on the loan, her lender understood the condo was not her primary residence.

Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has argued that Cook may have gotten a lower rate because the lender was treating the condo as a primary home. Cook’s financial disclosure forms indicate she has a loan against a property in Atlanta with an interest rate of 3.25 percent, which was slightly higher than prevailing rates for a primary residence at the time she took on the mortgage.

Cook also owns properties in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, which the documents did not address.

The case is drawing intense attention in Washington, with the Fed’s independence on the line. The dispute could quickly land before the Supreme Court, which has so far shown considerable deference to Trump, though it has also recognized that the Fed is structured differently from other agencies and is meant to operate independently of the White House.