Trump bid to fire Fed's Lisa Cook cost her more than $1M in legal, security costs: Filing

Source: CNBC

Published Thu, Jun 18 2026 9:49 AM EDT Updated 4 Min Ago


Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook incurred more than $1.3 million in legal and security expenses following President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her in August from the Fed’s board, a new ethics filing revealed Thursday. Outside organizations reimbursed Cook for those expenses, the filing shows. The Supreme Court is expected to rule imminently on whether Trump has the power to fire Cook for the reasons he cited.

Trump tried to remove Cook from the Fed’s board while alleging that she had committed mortgage fraud, based on claims made by Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Cook denies she did anything wrong and sued to block her firing. She has remained on the board pending the outcome of that lawsuit. “A Supreme Court case is not cheap,” a person familiar with Cook’s situation said, speaking anonymously to describe sensitive financial matters. Cook’s address was publicized in the aftermath of the administration’s accusations against her.

“Being relentlessly and publicly attacked by the president and Pulte required certain measures to be taken for her protection,” the person said. The Federal Reserve and an attorney for Cook each declined to comment.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/18/trump-federal-reserve-lisa-cook-security-filing.html