Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte shared “video proof” Tuesday confirming that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s house in Ann Arbor, Michigan—listed as a “primary residence” in her mortgage paperwork—is currently being rented out.
“NEW: VIDEO PROOF: We have just received video proof that Lisa Cook’s declared “PRIMARY RESIDENCE” is being RENTED out to tenants,” Pulte posted on X. “Cook RECENTLY CLAIMED to the U.S. Government that it was her PERSONAL RESIDENCE, but she’s renting it out?”
Last month, President Donald Trump fired Cook on the basis that she made “false statements” on two mortgages in 2021, about a year before she was confirmed to her position to the Fed.
The alleged fraud was first made public by Pulte in a criminal referral to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office, which accused Cook of misrepresenting her residency status on her Michigan and Georgia residences, ostensibly to receive more favorable loans.
Pulte has referred a third property in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Department of Justice as well. The Cambridge house, was first declared as a “second home,” then as a rental property. All three mortgages were reportedly taken out by Cook in 2021 within a timespan of three to four months.
Cook refused to step down and sued Trump, saying the claim she engaged in mortgage fraud did not give the president legal authority to fire her.
Within the documents filed in her suit, Cook acknowledges that mistakes were made in her paperwork for the home loans, but claims they were due to a “clerical error” on her part that don’t rise to a level that would justify removing her from office.
Pulte begged to differ, telling reporters Tuesday: “If you’re going to be in charge of the Federal Reserve, damn, you better sure know how to fill out a mortgage application.”
Michigan-based independent journalist Charlie LeDuff visited Cook’s Ann Arbor home last week, and spoke with one of the occupants.
“I stopped by the house last week. The glass in the storm door was filthy with neglect,” LeDuff reported at the Michigan Enjoyer. “A metal lockbox—the kind used by realtors—hung on the door knob.”
LeDuff said that he could see “a figure sitting at the dining room table” and after he knocked, “the door slightly cracked open, only to reveal a white man partially visible behind the filthy glass.”
“I’m a reporter,” I told the figure, who did not undo the chain. “I was wondering if Lisa Cook lives here. Or do you rent?”
“No, we’re just renters here.” He made it clear he didn’t feel comfortable with a reporter on the deteriorating porch. “You’ll have to talk to the owner.”
“Ok,” I said. “Is it you just living here?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Just renting?” I asked again.
“No comment.”
“I’m sorry?”
It was difficult to hear. The traffic was crackling like an old transistor radio. There was a bus stop nearby.
“You’ll have to talk to the owner of the house.”
And with that, the interview was over. The chain rattled. The door closed, and someone pulled the curtains tight.
“It’s hard to believe Cook got confused over her mortgage paperwork,” LeDuff commented. “Cook is a financial sophisticate, a member of the board of governors of the world’s most powerful central bank. A bank that sets interest rates that influence the cost of financing a home, mind you.”
As a reporter, LeDuff has previously covered about a dozen questionable residency and real estate cases, involving “two Detroit mayors, a current mayoral candidate, a county executive, a county commissioner, a supreme court justice, a circuit court judge, a district court judge, a member of Congress, a fire commissioner, a prominent minister, and a major political party treasurer.”
“I simply try to hold the powerful to account,” he wrote at the Michigan Enjoyer. “These people were black, white, male, and female. Doesn’t matter to me.”
He added: “There cannot be two sets of rules: one for the elites who scam their way into favorable financial terms and another for the rest of us who endure audits, foreclosures, and repossession.”
Cook has three basic questions to answer:
1 Was she renting the properties when she was supposed to be sleeping at them?
2 Did she claim rental income on her tax forms?
3 And where does she actually live?
Because it sure the hell ain’t Ann Arbor.
During an appearance on Fox Business Tuesday morning, Pulte told host Maria Bartiromo that the evidence looks like “blatant mortgage fraud” to him and is disqualifying for an official at the Federal Reserve.
“It will be up to the DOJ what they end up doing here, but things do not look very good for Miss Cook,” he said, adding that she has not denied the accusations, but has instead engaged in “double-speak, playing games and attacking us.”
“We’re NOT gonna be deterred,” he declared.
Pulte also blasted Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for remaining silent amid these serious accusations.
“The Fed has not been independent for the last 4 years, and you see that with Jerome Powell not holding Lisa Cook accountable!” he told Bartiromo. “This is clearly what appears to be blatant mortgage fraud, and Powell is SILENT. If anything, he’s showing the lack of independence of the Fed, and it’s by his own doing. We can’t get a new Fed chair soon enough.”
Pulte said President Trump is determined to fix the housing market but is facing massive headwinds due to Powell’s refusal to lower interest rates.
Powell, he said, is decimating the credibility of the Federal Reserve by his partisan behavior.
“Why is Jerome Powell not out there? He should be out there condemning mortgage fraud, and if Fed Governor Lisa Cook did something, she should step down,” Pulte stated. “Unfortunately, I believe Jerome Powell is complicit in the destruction of the credibility of the Fed by his silence on this mortgage fraud matter.”