Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said the Trump administration has no legal basis to remove her, following the president’s renewed accusations of mortgage fraud. The president has threatened to fire Cook, citing alleged false statements on mortgage documents, a claim the administration previously made in August 2025 and again in August 2026. Cook’s lawyers responded with a written rebuttal stating the accusations are not fraud and are an attempt to pressure the central bank. In a letter dated Wednesday, Abbe David Lowell and Norman Eisen said an inadvertent error does not constitute fraud, noting that similar mistakes have been made by members of the administration, and said the effort is an attempt to force the Fed to bend to the president’s will. Federal law requires removal of a governor “for cause,” and the Supreme Court ruled in June that the president cannot dismiss Fed officials at will; the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 provides protections to shield the bank from political pressure. The administration also opened a criminal probe into former Fed Chair Jerome Powell over a renovation project, which was later dropped after a federal judge rejected subpoenas; Powell said the investigation was intended to intimidate the Fed. Economists warn that pressure to lower interest rates quickly could increase liquidity in markets and weaken the dollar, a concern amid ongoing inflation management. The situation underscores tensions between the administration and the Fed’s independence, with no resolution yet.