Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte has been highly critical of Fed Chair Jerome Powell in recent months and has now taken aim at him again, this time for his silence on the mortgage fraud allegations surrounding Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
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“This is clearly, what appears to be blatant mortgage fraud, and Jerome Powell is silent,” Pulte said in a Fox Business interview on Tuesday. “If anything, he’s showing the lack of independence of the Fed, and it’s by his own doing.”
Powell’s Silence Fuels Fed Independence Concerns
Pulte added that the Fed hasn’t been independent for the past four years, which has been exemplified by Powell’s silence on Cook. Last month, Pulte claimed that Cook committed mortgage fraud by listing two separate properties as her primary residence, bringing the matter to Trump’s attention. Primary residences are eligible to receive lower mortgage rates.
“Why hasn’t Jerome Powell come out and said that Lisa Cooks conduct is not representative of the Fed?” questioned Pulte in an X post.
Trump attempted to fire Cook, although the Fed Governor responded with a lawsuit that said he had no legal grounds to remove her from her position.
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