Abbe Lowell: The veteran defense lawyer squaring off against Trump in Federal Reserve fight

When President Donald Trump abruptly announced past week that helium had fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, a legendary Washington lawyer rapidly stepped into the arena.

Abbe Lowell has represented New York Attorney General Letitia James, Hunter Biden, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and respective different high-profile governmental clients, some Republicans and Democrats.

Now helium is astatine the halfway of Trump's bid to grow his authorization implicit national regulators.

Before Trump announced helium was firing Cook connected Aug. 25, nary American president had ever tried to unilaterally region a Fed governor, pushing Cook and the cardinal slope into uncharted ineligible territory.

But for Lowell, a fixture successful Washington ineligible circles for decades, warring a statesmanlike administration's effort to exert power implicit national regulators is thing new.

"I person fundamentally challenged the overreach of national agencies successful each medication since Ronald Reagan's," Lowell said on MSNBC last month.

"Didn't substance whether it's a Democratic oregon Republican administration. If the authorities overreaches, past [the] lawyer's occupation is to enactment the authorities successful the close place," helium added.

Cook and James are immoderate of the newer names of the lengthy lawsuit database Lowell has built implicit the years.

James won a civilian fraud lawsuit against Trump and his household concern successful 2023. The punishment successful the lawsuit — astir $500 cardinal — was thrown retired past month.

That aforesaid month, the Trump Justice Department launched a national expansive jury probe into James implicit alleged "mortgage fraud."

The allegations against James were publically leveled earlier this twelvemonth by the aforesaid Trump ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency manager Bill Pulte, who made the claims against Cook.

Lowell, not acrophobic to service arsenic the onslaught canine for his clients, has called the probe into James "the astir blatant and hopeless illustration of this medication carrying retired the president's governmental retribution campaign."

Lowell, 73, has besides represented respective different high-profile clients during his career, including Kushner and Ivanka Trump, the president's son-in-law and eldest daughter.

Kushner and Ivanka Trump retained Lowell during Trump's archetypal word to correspond them successful a peculiar counsel probe of Russian interference successful the 2016 elections.

Former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., hired Lowell's then-firm to support him successful a 2017 national bribery lawsuit that ended successful a mistrial. Menendez was convicted successful a abstracted national bribery lawsuit past year.

Lowell besides defended Hunter Biden, who was convicted past year connected national weapon related charges, earlier being pardoned by his father, erstwhile President Joe Biden.

Lowell besides served arsenic number counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee during impeachment proceedings against erstwhile President Bill Clinton successful 1998.

But since Trump's return, the bulk of Lowell's clients person been individuals targeted by the Trump administration, giving him a acquainted playbook arsenic helium takes connected the White House successful ineligible filings and successful the courtroom.

"The difference," helium says, betwixt the Trump medication and different administrations, is that the Trump White House overreaches "over and implicit again."

"So I conjecture the bottommost enactment is this is accordant with what I and the radical I'm moving with person ever done. There's conscionable much of it to do," Lowell said connected NPR's "Morning Edition" past month.

Following a acquainted strategy successful Cook's lawsuit arsenic successful his others, Lowell rapidly filed a suit connected her behalf past week aft Trump moved to occurrence her implicit unsupported allegations of owe fraud.

Lowell besides sharply criticized the effort connected Friday, erstwhile tribunal proceeding connected the substance ended without an contiguous decision.

"Nothing successful these vague, unsubstantiated allegations has immoderate relevance to Gov. Cook's relation astatine the Federal Reserve, and they successful nary mode warrant her removal from the Board," Lowell said successful a statement.

The question underpinning Cook's lawsuit is whether the alleged owe fraud meets the threshold to beryllium considered a morganatic ground for removing Cook "for cause."

Lowell besides criticized Pulte, who archetypal raised and has relentlessly promoted the owe fraud allegations.

"You can't person Director Pulte's brainsick midnight tweets beryllium the cause" for which Cook is removed, helium said during the Friday hearing.

Earlier this year, Lowell left Winston & Strawn, wherever helium was a partner, and founded his ain firm, Lowell & Associates. His boutique steadfast has rapidly developed a roster of clients who person been targets of the Trump administration.

And helium appears improbable to halt taking connected the medication anytime soon.

During the caller NPR interview, Lowell compared James' lawsuit to George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four," noting "the celebrated enactment astir a authorities that engages successful what's called doublespeak."

"I mean, deliberation astir what the president is doing. He has an bureau successful the Department of Justice that is called thing astir the anti-weaponization office," helium said, adding that "they are utilizing that bureau to weaponize the Justice Department against the president's adversaries."

"I cognize we get inured to the excess of authorization that is happening successful the past six months, but this strikes astatine specified - the bosom of the regularisation of instrumentality that radical should wage attention," helium said.