Aug. 28 (UPI) — Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook filed a lawsuit Thursday against President Donald Trump for attempting to illegally fire her.
“This case challenges President Trump’s unprecedented and illegal attempt to remove Governor Cook from her position, which, if allowed to occur, would be the first of its kind in the Board’s history,” the suit said.
“It would subvert the Federal Reserve Act, which explicitly requires a showing of ’cause’ for a Governor’s removal, which an unsubstantiated allegation about private mortgage applications submitted by Governor Cook prior to her Senate confirmation is not,” the case introduction continued.
“The President’s actions violate Governor Cook’s Fifth Amendment due process rights and her statutory right to notice and a hearing under the [Federal Reserve Act],” it further stated. “Accordingly, Governor Cook seeks immediate declaratory and injunctive relief to confirm her status as a member of the Board of Governors, safeguard her and the Board’s congressionally mandated independence, and allow Governor Cook and the Federal Reserve to continue its critical work.”
The suit names Trump, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and the Fed Board of Governors as defendants, and a hearing for a request for a temporary restraining order has been slated for 10 a.m. EDT on Friday in front of Federal Judge Jia Cobb.
The legal move comes after Trump said Monday that he was firing Cook due to a criminal referral made by a member of the Trump administration that alleged she had committed mortgage fraud by claiming two different locations as her main residence a year before she joined the board.
She has not been charged with any crime in relation to the referral.
Should her suit be won, it asks for Trump to declare she remains an active Fed governor, and that board members can only be removed for cause, as described in the Federal Reserve Act.
The suit also seeks “an award of the costs of this action and reasonable attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act or any other applicable law,” as well as an “award of all other appropriate relief.”