Trump Creates Committee of Inquiry on False-Statement Allegations Against Fed Governor Lisa Cook

ANALYSIS · October 10, 2026

Slug: lisa-cook-committee-of-inquiry

Package note: This analyzes the presidential memorandum “Establishment of a Committee of Inquiry to Investigate Allegations of False Statements by Lisa DeNell Cook,” dated October 7, 2026. It creates a three-member committee to investigate the allegations and recommend whether “cause” exists to remove Governor Cook under 12 U.S.C. 242, as construed in Trump v. Cook, 146 S. Ct. 2234 (2026). The memorandum makes no findings on the allegations and does not itself remove Cook.

Primary sources

• White House, presidential memorandum (Oct. 7, 2026): https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/10/establishment-of-a-committee-of-inquiry-to-investigate-allegations-of-false-statements-by-lisa-denell-cook/

The memorandum is addressed to the Attorney General, the Counsel to the President, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, and the Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It sets up a committee whose three members are the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the EEOC Chairman, and the OGE Director. The committee is to investigate allegations that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook made false statements in connection with one or more mortgage instruments, and it may consult agencies including the Justice Department. It must hold a closed, transcribed, in-person hearing at the White House on November 5, 2026, lasting no more than 4 hours. It then reports findings and a recommendation to the President.

Core Tension

The memorandum frames the inquiry as part of the President’s Article II duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed, “including by firing subordinates who cannot be trusted to tell the truth.” It sets up a fast, closed process: one hearing of up to four hours, a written statement from Cook due at least 3 days before, a post-hearing statement due November 10, and a recommendation to the President “as soon as practicable” after that. Committee members are all executive-branch officials who serve at the President’s pleasure, and the committee can change its procedures with notice to Cook. The memorandum contains no findings on the underlying mortgage allegations.

The full Analysis comes with membership: what the document does, the claims check, and what to watch. Become a member or sign in. Founding members (first 100): $30 the first year, then $50/yr.