President Trump said today that Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor who has repeatedly voted not to cut interest rates despite his public pressure, should “resign, now!!!” It was the president’s latest push to remake the central bank.

Trump cited allegations that Cook had engaged in mortgage fraud by claiming two primary residences in her mortgage applications. That information came from Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who said that his office had investigated Cook and referred the matter to the Justice Department, encouraging a criminal investigation.

Pulte, who leveled similar allegations against Adam Schiff, the Democratic senator, and Letitia James, the New York State attorney general, is the same official who drafted a letter for the president to fire the Fed chair, Jerome Powell.

Both Pulte and Trump have repeatedly criticized the Fed for holding interest rates steady. Just last night, Trump called Powell “a disaster” for not cutting rates. Officials at the central bank have described the decision as an attempt to prevent inflation from spinning out of control.

Trump’s attacks against the Fed fit a broader pattern wherein the administration uses the instruments of government to target perceived political rivals:

• At least two large law firms have committed themselves to doing free legal work for the Trump administration in order to avoid punitive executive orders.

• The president has personally stipulated that universities pay hefty penalties in order to regain their federal funding.

• The N.S.A.’s chief data scientist, who analyzed Russian election meddling in 2016, was stripped of his security clearance despite an effort by the agency’s leader to block the move.