As Attorney General, I’ve taken the statement “no one is above the law” as a fundamental core value, applied equally to all. As a U.S. Senator, I will ensure the Senate’s ‘Advice and Consent’ role extends beyond confirmations, holding officials accountable for honest disclosures and ethical conduct.
Take, for instance, the current controversy surrounding Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. For many, the publicly reported facts demonstrate that “no one is above the law” is an empty political slogan, only applied to people who challenge entrenched bureaucrats and woke overreach. Specifically, within the Federal Reserve, there is a clear pattern of double standards and hypocrisy from the media and Democrat pundits.
If you go back just five years and look at how ethical issues for Federal Reserve Governors—those who set our interest rates and thus decide how much we pay for our car loans, our credit cards, and our home loans—have been handled, it’s clear the “standards” have not been applied equally.
In 2021, news reports circulated that three Federal Reserve Presidents had made large trades of stocks and bonds during the prior year, when the Fed began emergency measures to prop up the economy in the wake of the Covid shutdowns. Investigations found that no laws were broken. In fact, the trades did not even violate the ethics rules of the Federal Reserve.
Despite this, radical socialist Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for the removal of those officials. I’ll leave it to you to figure out why. Senator Warren’s drumbeat was, of course, willingly amplified by the mainstream media. She eventually got her scalps.
Federal Reserve Presidents Eric Rosengren and Robert Kaplan announced early retirements from the Fed on the same day, with Kaplan specifically citing the perception of the trading issues as a reason. Later, the third Federal Reserve President Richard Clarida moved forward his already announced retirement to appease the mob who were demanding another scalp, all to set up the reconfirmation of Chairman Jay Powell.
While there were a few stories, the media and political firestorm over unethical improper trading by President Raphel Bostic was allowed to die quickly. And on top of all that, he filed inaccurate disclosures that made it difficult to discover his actions clearly violated the Fed’s ethics rules.
In the cases of the presidents who retired, no laws nor ethics rules were broken. Meanwhile, President Bostic violated multiple rules and ethics guidelines but still remains on the job today.
In the former cases, all three Presidents were white males. The latter is the first African American to become a Federal Reserve President.
Which brings us to Governor Cook, the first African American female to hold this position. The facts demonstrate that she bought two homes weeks apart, in different states, claiming both would be her primary residence. This is obviously not a “clerical error.”
Throughout the mortgage process that you and I must also follow, we’re asked multiple times when we apply for a mortgage to confirm, in writing, the home will be our primary residence and that we agree to occupy it upon closing. Such declarations help determine the interest rates we pay. There is even a specific affidavit we sign as part of the uniform closing process.
As a Federal Reserve Governor, Lisa Cook is responsible for the health of our financial system. They are the regulators. They must ensure that rules designed to protect our system—so that no great financial crisis occurs again—are followed.
Those defending Cook are not defending her actions. Those are indefensible.
Instead, as usual, they’re attacking President Trump. They always do.
The bureaucratic code words to insulate the status quo are “Fed independence.” They want us to believe this independence is both sacrosanct and unquestionable.
The playbook and precedent were established long ago. Democrat politicians like Senator Warren and their cheerleaders in the woke media demand accountability so long as those being held accountable are political opponents or those who can be replaced by like-minded allies. The real threat to our institutions and democracy itself come from liberal politicians and their enablers in the media, not from President Trump and others who demand accountability.
Standards for conduct and compliance with laws should be applied equally. Documents prove Lisa Cook misrepresented herself while getting federally regulated loans. She has no business remaining in a position to regulate our financial system and President Trump is right for removing her.
Steve Marshall serves as the 48th Attorney General of the State of Alabama and is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.