(AFP) – US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook will be too busy to attend a hearing ordered by President Donald Trump over mortgage fraud allegations, her lawyer said Tuesday. Cook will be carrying out official duties at financial and monetary policy meetings in Europe on November 5, the date proposed for the hearing, her lawyer Abbe Lowell wrote in a letter to the White House.
“Consequently, she is unable to attend any hearing on that date,” he said, while raising sharp concerns over the objectivity of the White House probe. The earliest date a hearing can take place, he said, will be after the Fed’s policy meeting scheduled for December 8-9.
Lowell’s letter comes days after Trump announced that he had set up a committee to investigate Cook over alleged “false statements” linked to mortgages, in a renewed effort to oust her from the central bank. The White House said in a statement published Friday that the panel would hold an in-person hearing on November 5, attracting swift criticism from a key Democratic lawmaker.
But Lowell noted that Cook will enter preparations for the Fed’s December policy meeting once she returns from Europe, adding that they will need time to prepare for any possible session with the White House panel.
– ‘Demonstrably biased’ –
He added that “we have significant concerns regarding the objectivity and fitness of the committee for its assigned purpose.” Members of the committee convened by Trump include his top economic aide Kevin Hassett. The other two members are the chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Andrea Lucas, and acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, Keith Sonderling.
Lowell said Hassett has already “publicly insinuated” that Trump has “cause” to fire Cook, and sought to pressure her to go on leave a year ago. “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.
Last week, Elizabeth Warren, top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, charged that Trump was “convening an illegitimate show trial” in an attempt to exert control over the independent US central bank. Trump’s move comes just months after the Supreme Court blocked his attempt to remove Cook, saying that he had failed to give her notice and a chance to answer allegations that she faced.
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