WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook say a panel set up by the White House last week to investigate an accusation against her is “clearly biased” even though they have not closed the door on the possibility of her appearing before the panel.
Attorney Abbe Lowell also said in a letter Tuesday that Cook would not be able to participate in a Nov. 5 hearing because she “will be carrying out her official duties as governor at financial and monetary policy meetings in Europe.”
Cook could appear at the earliest before a “committee of inquiry” created by the White House last Friday after the Fed’s Dec. 8-9 policy meeting, the letter said. The letter was sent to William Scharf, an advisor to President Donald Trump.
Lowell’s comments mark the latest twist in the Trump administration’s protracted effort to fire Cook as one of seven members of the Fed’s board of governors. Trump accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud in 2021, before joining the board, a claim she denied. No criminal charges have been filed.
No president has fired a Fed governor before, reflecting the Fed’s traditional independence from policy. Yet Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that the central bank lower its benchmark rate, has taken numerous steps that economists say have threatened his independence. Earlier this year, the Justice Department sought to investigate then-President Jerome Powell following brief testimony he gave about an extensive building renovation, although a judge dismissed subpoenas in that case, which was later dropped.
Cook was appointed by former President Joe Biden and is the first Black woman on the Fed board.
Trump first tried to fire Cook in August 2025, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that she could remain in her position while the litigation continued. The court also suggested, in a footnote to the ruling, that Trump could try to fire her again if the administration gave him sufficient notice and an opportunity to respond. The commission of inquiry announced by the White House last Friday aims to meet these conditions.
Under the law governing the Fed, the president can only fire a Fed governor “for cause,” but the Supreme Court did not consider whether Cook’s actions met that standard. The investigative panel will ultimately determine whether to fire Cook, a White House memo said last week.
Lowell also said in Tuesday’s letter that “we have serious concerns about the committee’s objectivity and ability to fulfill its purpose.”
One of its three members, Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser to Trump, has previously said the president had “reason” to fire Cook, the letter notes. The other two members — Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Rich — are also Trump appointees.
“A hearing with blatantly biased members, unspecified additional allegations, and an unclear timeline for the release of any additional evidence – without any explanation as to why it was not previously produced – is not a process that respects the appearance or history of independence,” Lowell’s letter said.
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