Treasury Secretary Made Same Mortgage Claims As Lisa Cook

Last month, President Donald Trump tried to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has publicly supported the move, which is kind of funny, considering that documents reveal he once made similar claims to the ones they are trying to get Cook fired over. 

According to CNBC, in September 2007, Bessent’s attorney signed documents stating homes in Bedford Hills, New York, and Provincetown, Massachusetts, would both be his primary residence. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte accused Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud for doing the very same thing in 2021. Lisa Cook has denied the allegations, but that didn’t stop President Donald Trump from attempting to fire Cook in a move that greatly undermined the traditional independence of the Federal Reserve. 

Further driving home the irony of the situation is that Scott Bessent is on record saying he believes Lisa Cook should be fired for doing something he, too, has done. “There are people who think that President Trump is putting undue pressure on the Fed,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network. “And there are people like President Trump and myself who think that if a Fed official committed mortgage fraud, that this should be examined, and that they shouldn’t be serving as one of the nation’s leading financial regulators.”

Mortgage experts told Bloomberg that neither Scott Bessent nor Lisa Cook’s documents seem to indicate fraud, as they both disclosed to their lenders what their true intent for the properties was. 

From CNBC:

Bank of America, the mortgage lender for the two Bessent properties, in a letter to the Treasury secretary sent in the past several weeks said that it was aware that both his Bedford Hills and Provincetown properties were “secondary residences.”

“As your bankers, we were well aware that your primary residence” was in Manhattan, a managing director for the bank said in the letter to Bessent.

″Regardless, for the mortgage product you received, interest rates do not vary based on utilization as a primary versus secondary residence and neither mortgage was backed by or sold to any Government Sponsored Entity or other investor.”

Rider documents associated with the mortgage agreements also show the Bedford and Provincetown houses referenced as secondary residences.

This seems to be a common error, as the Trump administration has also hit New York Attorney General Letitia James with a mortgage fraud allegation over a remarkably similar situation. James has called the allegations “baseless,” and federal prosecutors seem to agree. Pulte has been pressuring federal prosecutors to file charges against James, despite a five-month investigation leading to little evidence that James initially defrauded lenders.

While Trump did try to fire Lisa Cook, a federal judge blocked her firing as it happened before an investigation into wrongdoing could even take place, and the Trump administration didn’t provide a legally permissible cause for her firing. President Trump has since appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for an emergency order to allow him to remove Cook from her position.  

This is yet another example of the Republican Party enacting their favorite proverb: “Rules for thee, but not for me.” When a procedural error was found in Lisa Cook and Letitia James’ mortgage documents, the Trump administration was immediately coming for their jobs. When it’s the Treasury Secretary, though? Oh, it’s just a little mistake that happens all the time. 

It’s deeply hypocritical that President Trump is even trying to come after Lisa Cook and Letitia James for mortgage fraud, considering he was found liable for lying to investors about his wealth and the value of his properties. 

SEE ALSO:

Federal Judge Rules Lisa Cook Can Remain Federal Reserve Governor

Trump Says He Fired Federal Reserve Governor

President Trump Pressures Prosecutors To Charge Letitia James

Treasury Secretary Made Same Mortgage Claims Trump Tried To Fire Lisa Cook Over  was originally published on newsone.com