Oct 13 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook challenged President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to remove her from her role, with her lawyer questioning the objectivity of a White House probe into allegations she committed mortgage fraud, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
In the letter to the White House, Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the governor would not be able to attend a hearing scheduled for November 5 because she would be fulfilling her duties in Europe “at financial and monetary policy meetings.”
Lowell said the earliest that any hearing could take place was after the Fed’s policy meeting scheduled for December 8-9.
Trump has been trying to fire Cook for more than a year as he moves to exert more control over a central bank he says is refusing for political reasons to lower interest rates. He has launched a new inquiry into Cook. Her lawyers had said any fair hearing would show there is no legal basis for firing her.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Kanishka Singh in Washington)
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