Mortgage Fraud Claims Give Trump Weapon Against Lisa Cook and Others

Bill Pulte finally may have captured a head at the Fed.

For weeks, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency has publicly called for the firing of Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, and issued warnings on social media about a crackdown on mortgage fraud.

That crackdown appears to have now ensnared a different member of the Federal Reserve Board, Lisa Cook. On Monday evening, President Trump fired Ms. Cook because of allegations that she falsified records to obtain favorable terms on a mortgage, a step that could give him greater control over the central bank.

After Mr. Trump announced that Ms. Cook was fired, Mr. Pulte celebrated on social media.

“Thank you President Trump for your commitment to stopping mortgage fraud and following the law,” Mr. Pulte wrote on X. “If you commit mortgage fraud in America, we will come after you, no matter who you are.”

Mr. Pulte, who has more than three million followers on social media, has used his position at the housing finance agency to attack and investigate Mr. Trump’s political enemies. He has accused Mr. Powell of mismanaging the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters and initiated mortgage fraud investigations into Letitia James, the New York attorney general who prosecuted Mr. Trump and his companies, and Senator Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who led the effort to impeach Mr. Trump during his first term.

Then he seized on Ms. Cook.

Last week Mr. Pulte posted images of her signatures that appeared to show that she improperly designated both a condominium in Atlanta and a home in Ann Arbor, Mich., as her primary residence when taking out loans. In doing so, Mr. Pulte said, Ms. Cook appeared to have “falsified bank documents and property records” that could have allowed her to obtain lower interest rates and more favorable loan terms.

“When someone commits mortgage fraud, they undermine the faith and integrity of our System,” Mr. Pulte wrote on X, adding that he was referring the case to the Department of Justice.