White House associate counsel Graziella Pastor on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump’s decision to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, telling Newsmax the president acted lawfully and had ample cause to question her integrity.
Appearing on “National Report,” Pastor said the Federal Reserve Act gives the president clear authority to remove a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors “for cause,” and Trump’s decision complied with that standard.
“Under the Federal Reserve Act, Congress gave the president the power to remove a governor on the Federal Reserve Board for cause. That’s all the statute says. And President Trump had cause to remove Lisa Cook,” Pastor said.
Pastor pointed to allegations Cook falsified information on a mortgage application. She noted that Cook failed to publicly deny the claims for more than a week and did not refute them in her legal complaint.
“The president sent her a letter letting her know he doubted he could have confidence in her integrity at the Federal Reserve, especially considering the Fed’s tremendous responsibility in setting interest rates and regulating banks,” Pastor said.
That doubt of confidence, she argued, is exactly the type of judgment the law entrusts to the president.
“The main argument here is that Congress clearly gave the president the discretion to determine whether or not there’s cause for someone’s removal — not Lisa Cook’s attorney,” Pastor continued. “The law is written, was applied and followed here. And there was a hearing on Friday. No injunction has been entered. We’re obviously continuing to litigate this issue. But the law as written is pretty crystal clear.”
Pastor stressed that Trump’s removal of Cook should also be seen as a step toward greater accountability at the Fed.
“This removal actually improves accountability at the Federal Reserve to both markets and the American people,” she said. “Both deserve to know that in the Trump administration, the law is going to apply equally to everyone, regardless of position.”
She added that officials entrusted with monetary policy and bank oversight must operate with unquestioned integrity.
“If you’re in charge of setting interest rates and regulating banks, you better be operating lawfully and you can’t call into question your own judgment and credibility,” Pastor said. “Otherwise, the president is going to doubt and not be able to have confidence in you.”
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