WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook's lawyer questioned the objectivity of a White House probe into allegations she committed mortgage fraud, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday, challenging president Donald Trump's latest attempt to remove her from her role.
Trump has been trying to fire Cook for more than a year as he moves to exert more control over a central bank he says is refusing for political reasons to lower interest rates. Cook denies any wrongdoing and has sued to keep her job.
Earlier this month Trump announced a fresh inquiry into Cook and the appointment of a three-person committee to hold a hearing. The president later told reporters he would proceed with her firing if the committee recommended it. Cook's lawyers have said a fair hearing would show there is no legal basis for firing her.
In Tuesday's letter, Cook's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, noted that one of the proposed members of the committee, White House economic policy advisor Kevin Hassett, had previously pressured Cook to take leave from her office and suggested Trump had "cause" to fire her.
"A hearing with demonstrably biased members, unspecified additional allegations, and an unclear schedule for the disclosure of any additional evidence - with no explanation for why it was not previously produced - is not a process that respects the appearance or history of independence," Lowell wrote.
Lowell said Cook would not be able to attend a hearing on the Nov 5 date announced by the White House because she would be fulfilling her duties in Europe "at financial and monetary policy meetings."
The earliest that Cook could attend any hearing would be after the Fed's policy meeting scheduled for Dec 8-9, he wrote.
A Supreme Court ruling in Cook's case earlier this year barred Trump from firing a Fed governor at will, noting the need for the Fed to remain politically independent both in fact and in appearance in order to do its job.
But the ruling also laid out a path for a possible removal if a Fed official is given a fair chance to see the evidence of what is alleged and has a chance to refute it. The White House appears to be pursuing that path.
The Fed raised its policy rate in September and is expected to do so again at its final meeting of the year.