Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said that a court ruling in favor of Harvard University this week backs her argument that President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her for alleged mortgage fraud is a pretext cloaking his ulterior motive.
Cook said in a filing late Thursday that the mortgage fraud claims against her disguise the president’s real agenda — taking control of the Fed to lower interest rates. She pointed to a federal judge finding that Trump’s purported concerns about antisemitism on Harvard’s campus were a “smokescreen” to target the university over deep-rooted ideological differences.
Cook made the argument in a filing late Thursday in Washington in support of her request for a temporary order blocking Trump from firing her while she sues to keep her job. US District Judge Jia Cobb is expected to rule soon on her request.
The decision Cook pointed to was handed down Wednesday in Harvard’s lawsuit against Trump for canceling billions of dollars in research grants.
Cook argues the Harvard ruling exposes the “transparent two-step” of Trump making statements revealing his actions are driven by ideology and then claiming later in court that he had a legitimate motive.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Justice Department said in a filing earlier Thursday that Cook shouldn’t be permitted to hide behind her allegations of pretext to shield herself from the administration’s claims of mortgage fraud. Early in the week, Cook told the judge that Trump was making “cut and paste” allegations against her, alluding to similar claims Trump has made against high-profile Democratic critics.