Nov 5 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s lawyer has asked the White House to address concerns about fairness and process before she will attend a hearing that President Donald Trump wants held to assess whether he should fire her, according to a representative of Cook’s legal team.
Trump has for more than a year been trying to remove Cook over mortgage fraud allegations that she denies and maintains are a pretense to oust her over her monetary policy decisions.
The Supreme Court in June ruled that Trump cannot fire a Fed governor “at will” but may be able to do so for cause, if he gives her a chance to defend herself. Trump’s top economic aide, Kevin Hassett, has said that the proposed hearing, which Trump initially set for November 5, is designed to do just that.
A White House official told Reuters on Wednesday that the hearing had been rescheduled for December 14.
Cook’s legal team has said she could be available if certain issues have been addressed by then, including the neutrality of the committee holding the hearing, the “disclosure of any evidence they want to address, and roles of others in the process,” a representative for her legal team told Reuters on Thursday, adding that her counsel has asked the White House to resolve those concerns.
Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, had previously raised questions over whether the hearing, part of a White House investigation into Cook to be led by Hassett and two other Trump appointees, would be fair.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jonathan Spicer )
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