In Some Records, Fed Governor Lisa Cook Listed Atlanta Home as Secondary

President Trump has sought to oust Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve on grounds that she has committed mortgage fraud, by falsifying crucial records to obtain more favorable terms on a home loan.

But new documents reviewed by The New York Times appear to add to the uncertainty surrounding some of the Trump administration’s claims. They raise the possibility that Ms. Cook did not try to deceive lenders about one of the properties when she purchased it before joining the board of the nation’s central bank in 2022.

Ms. Cook bought the property, a condominium in Atlanta, in 2021. The president and his top aides have accused Ms. Cook of incorrectly claiming both the condo and another property in Michigan, purchased weeks earlier, as her primary residence, seemingly in a bid to secure a lower interest rate on a mortgage.

Mr. Trump and his aides contend that this represents fraud, though Ms. Cook has not been charged with or convicted of a crime. But a set of financial records reviewed by the Times — a preliminary loan estimate from a credit union dated May 2021 — offers a possible competing view.

The documents instead classify that Atlanta residence as a “vacation home.” Similar language appears in a second set of records, furnished later that year to the government ahead of Ms. Cook’s confirmation to the Fed. In those heavily redacted submissions, the Atlanta condo is described as a “2nd home.”

Together, the records do not resolve the mystery surrounding Ms. Cook, who has said little about her own finances even after Mr. Trump took the extraordinary step last month of trying to fire her. Mr. Trump’s actions have touched off a landmark legal battle, which could see him expand his power to dismiss members of the central bank, potentially eroding its independence from political interference.