Cook’s lawyers take aim at Trump firing

Lisa Cook fired back Tuesday at the Trump administration’s claims that the president has vast powers to oust members of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, as her lawyers pressed for a swift resolution of the lawsuit over her dismissal.

- COLBY SMITH

In a filing in US District Court in Washington, Ms Cook’s legal team again urged a federal judge to rule that President Donald Trump's attempt to fire her late last month was unlawful and that she should stay on in her role as the case is litigated. They also explicitly defended Ms Cook against the administration’s accusations that she falsified documents related to her personal mortgages, saying she “did not ever commit mortgage fraud”

The Trump administration has argued that the president was well within his right to remove Ms Cook “for cause,” which is generally understood to mean professional neglect or wrongdoing.

The Justice Department has also made the case that the president has sweeping authority to define what is and is not considered sufficient cause, an authority that Ms Cook’s lawyers warned would effectively invalidate what is seen as a crucial guardrail protecting the Fed’s independence from political meddling.