Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume is calling out Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who allegedly broke the same law as Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, but without his job being threatened over it by President Donald Trump.
Trump announced Monday that he was firing Cook for alleged mortgage fraud by making “false statements on one or more” agreements. A financial disclosure form for 2024 listed two of her homes as personal residences, loans for which can carry lower interest rates.
Cook challenged her termination with a lawsuit on Thursday, the same day the news broke that Paxton, whom Trump has repeatedly praised publicly over the years, had apparently committed the same infraction as her. The Associated Press cited a review of public records.
“Mortgages signed by the Paxtons contained inaccurate statements declaring that each of those three houses was their primary residence, enabling the now-estranged couple to improperly lock in low interest rates,” the news organization reported Thursday.
Hume reacted to the matter on social media.
“This is the same thing Fed Governor Lisa Cook did,” the conservative commentator wrote Thursday on X, formerly Twitter, in a post sharing the article. “It will be interesting to see how those saying she deserved to be fired react to this news.”
Social media users have been debating whether Cook and Paxton broke the same law, as Cook took out her two mortgages under question, in Michigan and Georgia, in 2021. She was still an academic at the time and had yet to be appointed to the Fed.
Some experts have questioned whether these transactions are grounds enough for her removal, as they were in the public record when Cook was vetted and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Paxton reportedly went a step further by renting out two of his primary residences.
“The mortgage on a home in College Station, Texas, says the property is for the Paxtons’ exclusive use and cannot be rented out,” noted the AP report, citing a reviewed agreement. “Doing so would be grounds for terminating the mortgage, the document states.”
“The home has been listed for rent on real estate websites on-and-off since at least 2022,” it continued. “Ken Paxton also holds a $1.2 million mortgage on a ‘5 bedroom luxury cabin’ in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, that is for rent on Airbnb and other short-term rental sites.”
The latter agreement also stipulates that the property can’t be rented out. While Trump has yet to comment on the matter, he did chime in on the U.S. Senate race between Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), telling reporters Monday, “I like them both.”
Trump continued, “The worst situation I have is when I have two people that I get along with, well, I hate it, and they all want the endorsement … I’d rather not comment on it right now. I like both guys. They’re both friends of mine and they’re both good and very different.”