A 3rd Property!? Pulte Drops New Criminal Referral On Lisa Cook As Mortgage Scandal Widens

(Update: 2215ET): A third property? 

On Thursday night, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte dropped a second criminal referral against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook based on evidence that she entered into a 15-year mortgage on a third property which she listed as her “Second Home.” 

On an ethics form signed with the government, however, Cook noted it as an “investment/rental property.”

Why is this bad and not simply a ‘clerical error’? As Pulte notes, “Representing the property as a second home may have allowed Cook to secure a lower “Second Home” mortgage down payment and rates, as investment properties typically carry higher down payments and higher rates due to increased risk.”

3 strikes and you’re out.

Today, U.S. Federal Housing sent a 2nd Criminal Referral in the matter of Lisa D. Cook, related to a mortgage on a 3rd property and alleged misrepresentations about her properties to the United States Government during her time as Governor of the… pic.twitter.com/TAH68Mia23

— Pulte (@pulte) August 29, 2025

This new criminal referral follows an initial referral Pulte made after Cook listed two properties as her ‘primary residence’ in 2021 – ostensibly reaping manifold benefits on tax treatment and interest rates, which Cook hasn’t denied. 

About that Clerical Error…

Earlier Thursday, Cook filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after President Donald Trump fired her on Monday ‘for cause.’ Among the excuses contained in the lawsuit for listing two properties as her primary residence was a possible clerical error. 

Except, Cook described herself in her 2023 nomination hearing as having “significant experience in banking and finance, as is evidenced by my service on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and of a Community Development Financial Institution in Michigan, in addition to my employment at an investment bank and a large commercial bank.” 

“Clerical error” pic.twitter.com/ThnHKeRFS9

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 29, 2025

So she claims to be a banking expert, while anyone in the industry who’s done all the mandatory mind-numbing ‘continuing education’ has had these exact types of scenarios pounded into their heads ad nauseam, for years. 

In short:

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(Update: 1532ET): A Biden-appointed federal judge who defied a Supreme Court ruling earlier this month has been ‘randomly’ assigned to the (Biden-appointed) Lisa Cook case, after the Federal Reserve Governor filed a lawsuit challenging her Monday firing by President Trump. Her complaint doesn’t deny the underlying allegations of mortgage fraud – and instead argues that she couldn’t have been fired ‘for cause’ over something that happened before she was confirmed to the Fed. 

Cook also argues that claiming two houses as her ‘primary residence’ at the same time may have been a simple ‘clerical error.’

Doesn’t look like any “clerical error” a @Harvard grad and qualified Fed Governor would/should make!

Maybe a 3rd grader, but certainly not someone of her stature. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/279U8joxqS

— G. Buckman (@g_buckman) August 28, 2025

So, we’re supposed to believe that a Harvard graduate and ‘Top leading economist’ – who’s tasked with setting Fed policy – simply missed the ‘primary residence’ designation plastered all over the mortgage papers she signed? 

Anyway, here’s the new judge, Jia Cobb, who will weigh in on the case. 

Cobb recently defied the Supreme Court according to the Trump administration – after she continued to block the “expedited removal” of migrants despite a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the legality of such removals. 

“Will they be summarily removed from a country that — as they are swept up at checkpoints and outside courtrooms, often by plainclothes officers without explanation or charges — may look to them more and more like the countries from which they tried to escape?” Cobb wrote in an 84-page decision against the deportation effort.

Cobb was also the judge in Jan. 6th defendant Ryan Samsel’s case. Samsel was notably the first rioter to charge across police lines. After he was found guilty, prosecutors wanted him to go away for 20 years, however his February sentencing was called off after President Trump issued a blanket pardon to all J6ers. 

Now, the activist judge will decide at least the first step in Cook’s fate – which is sure to be appealed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals by the losing party, after which we’re guessing it’s headed to the Supreme Court. 

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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has sued the Trump administration, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, and the Board of Governors itself – after President Donald Trump fired her on Monday over claims that she lied on mortgage applications – allowing her to double-dip on tax and lending advantages. 

The lawsuit – which doesn’t deny mortgage fraud!! – seeks “A declaration that President Trump’s August 25, 2025 purported firing … is unlawful and void and that Governor Cook remains an active member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve,” and a declaration from the court that “an unsubstantiated allegation of mortgage fraud prior to a Governor’s confirmation is not cause for removal.”

Update: In a statement to CNBC, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte said: “In her filing, Ms. Cook does not deny that these are her mortgage documents, so one has to wonder why she, or Jerome Powell, would want this to be a part of the Federal Reserve, which is supposed to have preeminent integrity and which is critical to the safety and soundness of the U.S. Mortgage Market.”

Cook’s lawsuit claims that Trump violated the Federal Reserve Act, the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and other statutory rights – and that Trump’s action lacks “cause” as required by the FRA. 

Represented by former Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell – who also represents NY Attorney General Letitia James, former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor, and a whistleblower – James filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington DC – where we’re sure the Jury will be interested to hear, per her complaint, that she is the first black woman on the Board. 

And while former members of the Fed have stepped down over alleged improprieties, Cook is digging in.

2021: Dallas Fed president Kaplan busted for suspicious stock trades, resigns

2021: Boston Fed president Rosengren busted for suspicious stock trades, resigns

2022: Fed vice chair Richard Clarida busted for suspicious trades, resigns

2025: Lisa Cook vows to stay on

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 26, 2025

We’re sure Cook’s legal team is counting on a DC jury being sympathetic to Cook’s claims in response to her firing, in which Trump accused her of “deceitful and potentially criminal  conduct in a financial matter.”

The Trump-Cook clash erupted after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte dropped receipts showing that Cook lied on 2021 loan applications for two properties in Michigan and Georgia – claiming that each was her primary residence. 

Read the complaint below:

Cook Trump Comp 082825 by Zerohedge Janitor

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