Exclusive: Sen. Bill Hagerty Calls for Investigation into Biden Fed Nominee’s Alleged Embellishment of Resume

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) called for a more “fulsome investigation” into accusations Federal Reserve nominee Dr. Lisa Cook embellished her resume. Cook swore under oath she had not embellished her record.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson ran a segment on Tuesday in which he reviewed Dr. Lisa Cook’s tenure packet, saying:

The tenure packet shows that Cook, in an effort to bolster her credentials, which were, to put it mildly, lacking, lied on her resume about writing an influential peer-reviewed paper in the American Economic Review. But, administrators at Michigan State granted her tenure anyway in the name of equity and equity is what Lisa Cook could bring to the Fed.

Tucker Carlson on Lisa Cook tonight

"This show has obtained Lisa Cook's tenure review packet, it was first reported by a Substack called Karlstack, and we're grateful for that."

Subscribe to Karlstack for free 😎 : https://t.co/rqiiiMwnei pic.twitter.com/XwvIAWKmSu

— Christopher Brunet (@realChrisBrunet) April 6, 2022

The revelation first came from Chris Brunet, a Substack blogger and former Daily Caller reporter.

Carlson’s segment is particularly revealing considering that Hagerty had asked every Federal Reserve nominee, including Cook, during the February 3 Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing if they had ever embellished any part of their resume, background, or publications.

Cook, under oath, told Hagerty, “No sir.”

Hagerty had even raised concerns about Cook’s alleged mischaracterizations of her background. She said during the hearing that she was the “target” of “anonymous and untrue” attacks against her.

In reaction to the revelations about Cook’s potential embellishment of her academic experience, Hagerty called for a more “fulsome investigation” to find the truth in these accusations.

“If this new revelation is substantiated, it is seriously concerning,” Hagerty told Breitbart News. “In order for the Senate to fulfill its obligation to vet and confirm nominees, a more fulsome investigation into these developments is crucial.”

The call for further investigation into Cook’s qualifications for the Federal Reserve follows as Senate Democrats discharged her from the Senate Banking Committee, making her soon eligible for a vote to confirm her. The Senate could vote on her confirmation likely after the Senate holds a vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Although Republicans have sounded the alarm about her alleged lack of experience for a top post at the Fed and her controversial views on monetary policy and systemic racism, Democrats have said she would bring a different perspective to the nation’s central bank. Cook, if confirmed, would be the first black woman Fed governor.

“She’s a Ph.D. economist, she is a tenured professor, and she is sought by organizations around the world for her input and perspective. She will bring a critical voice to the Fed — one that has been missing for far too long,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said ahead of the vote to discharge her in March.

Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-PA) has voiced concerns Cook would politicize the Fed at a time that the central bank needs to focus on how to curb inflation.

Lisa DeNell Cook, nominated to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, is sworn in before a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on February 3, 2022, in Washington, DC. (KEN CEDENO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Cook has also supported many controversial policies, including studies for reparations, targeting the federal funds rate to improve the black unemployment rate, and claimed that alleged disparities in coronavirus aid are due to “systemic racism.”

She has also indicated support for reparations, instituting affirmative action at California universities, corporate board diversity quotas, and job guarantees.

After University of Chicago economics professor Harald Uhlig criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, Cook took to Twitter to accuse Uhlig of “racial harassment” and called on the economics professor to be fired as the editor of the Journal of Political Economy.

She claimed “free speech has its limits.”

Biden announced in mid-March he would withdraw Sarah Bloom Raskin’s bid for the Federal Reserve after she had called to bankrupt the oil and natural gas industry.

The 46th president also withdrew the nomination of Saule Omarova to serve as the Comptroller of the Currency after Republicans and Democrats opposed her controversial views to eliminate community banks and fossil fuel companies.

With more questions surrounding Cook’s nomination, she could become the next nominee to be withdrawn.