White House posts memorandum establishing committee to investigate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, with Nov. 5 hearing

President Donald Trump directed the creation of a committee of inquiry aimed at allegations of false statements by Federal Reserve Governor Lisa DeNell Cook, according to a memorandum posted by the White House on Oct. 8 and a report from PBS NewsHour published Oct. 9.

The White House memorandum, titled “Establishment of a Committee of Inquiry to Investigate Allegations of False Statements by Lisa DeNell Cook,” sets out roles for senior officials including 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 Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The memo states it is issued “by the authority vested” in the President under the Constitution and federal law.

PBS NewsHour reported that Trump’s written directive orders that Cook “shall” attend a hearing scheduled for Nov. 5 at the White House, to answer questions from the committee. The report described the hearing as part of the committee’s efforts to pursue the allegations referenced by the memorandum.

The memorandum establishes a process involving the committee’s fact-finding and question-and-answer format, and it assigns responsibilities across multiple federal offices rather than relying on a single agency. The timing, including the Nov. 5 hearing date, places the inquiry within a near-term window that would require the Federal Reserve governor to appear in connection with the executive branch’s review.

Cook is one of several Governors of the Federal Reserve Board, an independent central bank whose leadership includes members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The White House action does not, in the memorandum’s posted summary, specify a statutory mechanism for removal, but it does describe an inquiry process and a mandated appearance for the Nov. 5 hearing.

The White House action is posted as an official presidential document, but it has not been identified in the available material as published in the Federal Register. If additional implementation steps are taken that require Federal Register notice, those would typically be expected to follow separately from the memorandum itself.

Under the announced schedule, the next concrete procedural step for the committee is the Nov. 5 hearing at the White House, after which the committee would be expected to document findings and determine whether additional executive-branch actions are warranted based on the testimony and any supporting materials gathered.