Good thing Jackie Alemany, co-host of MSNBC's The Weekend, wasn't being dramatic on Sunday. Otherwise, she might have said something like "The continued existence of all life on earth hangs in the balance!"
Instead, the utterly undramatic Alemany merely said that if Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook was fired, "The stability of the global economy hangs in the balance." Alemany warned that global markets could enter a "red zone" if Cook's tenure went kaput.
If her continued membership on the Federal Reserve Board was so vital to the world's economy, perhaps Cook should have considered that before making allegedly false statements on multiple mortgage applications!
Alemany asked former Obama aide Norm Eisen, a lawyer representing Cook, a very simple question: "Did she commit mortgage fraud?"
Eisen declined to deny that Cook committed fraud. He chose instead to "stick with what we've said in argument and in the papers."
Not exactly the kind of outraged, flat denial of criminal activity that you might expect from a defense lawyer!
As to what was in those "papers" that Eisen hid behind, they contain the suggestion that Cook might have committed "clerical errors" in her loan documents.
So, Cook was incapable of avoiding errors that a decent clerk wouldn't make? Then, criminality aside, she has no business being a governor of the world's most important bank, and should be fired for gross incompetence!
Ironically, Eisen was President Obama's Special Counsel for Ethics. He, of all people, should know unethical behavior when he sees it. Was that what made him reluctant to answer Alemany's simple question: Did Cook commit mortgage fraud?
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC's The Weekend
8-31-25
8:05 am EDTJACKIE ALEMANY: I do want to stay on the topic of Lisa Cook for a minute. Norm, can you explain to us what exactly the state of play is with Ms. Cook, and whether or not she's going to be able to maintain her job?
I mean, it does, not to be dramatic here, but it does sound like the potential stability of the global economy sort of hangs in the balance.
EUGENE DANIELS: Yeah, just something small like that.
ALEMANY: Because, I mean, if, if she is ousted, Trump puts in an appointee, he gets what he wants in terms of lowering interest rates. I mean, it could send the markets into some red zone.
DANIELS: And, Norm, you are one of her lawyers.
ALEMANY: Yeah, I'm not sure how much you're allowed to disclose, but we'd love to hear what's going on.
DANIELS: Disclose a lot. No one's [inaudible.]
NORM EISEN: Um, Jackie, at Democracy Defenders Fund, we have over 125 legal matters, including representing Lisa Cook together with the great folks at Lowell & Associates.
I think on that case, because it is active litigation, as much as I love you all, I'm going to say we filed some powerful complaint brief. We had a lengthy argument in court last week, and we'll be filing another submission on Tuesday morning, and I'm going to rest on those arguments and the papers.
ALEMANY: But in terms of you having the ability to clear the -- to state the facts. Clear the record: Did she commit mortgage fraud, as the Trump administration is alleging?
EISEN: I'm just going to stick with what we've said in argument, and what we've said in the papers. Keep a sharp eye out Tuesday morning, we'll have another very hard-hitting filing for you.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: You should bring us the news here first!
