FROM NBC NEWS: Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook declared in financial forms that her Atlanta property would be used as a “vacation home” and not her primary residence, according to documents obtained by NBC News that appear to undercut the Trump administration’s allegations of mortgage fraud.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte and President Donald Trump, who has moved to fire Cook, have accused the central bank board member of passing off the property as her main residence for financial gain. Cook has repeatedly denied the allegation, and administration officials have not provided definitive evidence supporting their claims.
In a criminal referral to Attorney General Pam Bondi last month, Pulte wrote that “it appears an individual, Ms. Lisa DeNell Cook, has falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud under the criminal statue. This has included falsifying residence statuses for an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based residence and an Atlanta, Georgia-based property.”
Reuters reports that in a loan summary from the Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union for an Atlanta home Cook purchased, she declared the property as a “vacation home.”
“The document, dated May 28, 2021, was issued to Cook by her credit union in the weeks before she completed the purchase and shows that she had told the lender that the Atlanta property wouldn’t be her primary residence,” Reuters reported.
Public records in Fulton County, Georgia, reviewed by NBC News, show Cook did not seek any available tax exemptions for a primary residence.
Cook’s “questionnaire for national security positions,” which was submitted to the Biden administration in late 2021 and later the Senate, was also reviewed by NBC News. It contains a question that reads: “Please list all of your interests in real property, including additional homes, vacation homes, rental properties, and interests in trusts that may hold property.”
Cook wrote “2nd home” for the Atlanta property.
In a social media posts, Pulte wrote, “Dr. Lisa Cook’s mortgage agreement – not non-binding estimates – represented her Atlanta condo as her primary residence. The idea that she got estimates and then declared it as a primary on her mortgage agreement is even more concerning for Dr. Cook.”
Pulte followed up with a message that reads, “Dr. Cook represents herself as an extremely accomplished financial operator. If Dr. Cook solicited estimates as a vacation home and then entered into a mortgage agreement as a primary residence, that is extremely concerning, and in my opinion, evidences further intent to defraud.”
Dr. Lisa Cook’s mortgage agreement – not non-binding estimates – represented her Atlanta condo as her primary residence. The idea that she got estimates and then declared it as a primary on her mortgage agreement is even more concerning for Dr. Cook.
— Pulte (@pulte) September 13, 2025
Dr. Cook represents herself as an extremely accomplished financial operator. If Dr. Cook solicited estimates as a vacation home and then entered into a mortgage agreement as a primary residence, that is extremely concerning, and in my opinion, evidences further intent to defraud.
— Pulte (@pulte) September 13, 2025
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