Gold prices rallied Friday, inching near record highs, as a legal battle over President Donald Trump's attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook continued to stoke fears of political interference in U.S. monetary policy and triggered a rush to precious metals.
The yellow metal – as tracked by the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) – climbed nearly 1% to trade at $3,450 per ounce, just shy of the intraday record of $3,500 set in April. This would mark gold’s fourth straight session of gains.
The rally breaks gold out of a four-month sideways range, fueled by a combination of persistent inflation and concerns over central bank independence.
Silver joined the rally, surging nearly 2% to $39.70 per ounce — its highest level since September 2011. The grey metal is now up 35% year-to-date, outpacing gold's 32% gain.
The Core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index — the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation — rose to 2.9% year-over-year in July, marking its highest level in five months.
Just a week earlier, at the Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that rate cuts could be on the horizon.
Cook's Lawsuit Against Trump Enters Courtroom—But No Ruling Yet
In a tense two-hour hearing Friday in Washington, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb heard arguments in Cook v. Trump, a lawsuit filed by Lisa Cook to block her removal from the Federal Reserve Board.
The judge made no ruling and provided no timeline for when a decision might be reached, prolonging the legal and political limbo.
Cook, a Fed governor since 2022, is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent Trump from removing her while her broader lawsuit proceeds.
Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said Trump's repeated public attacks on the central bank show a pattern of targeting officials who refuse to support his push for lower interest rates.
Pulte Escalates Legal Pressure On Lisa Cook With New Property Allegations
Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a key Trump appointee, intensified the pressure on Fed Reserve Governor Cook on Friday by issuing a second criminal referral, citing what he described as a "pattern" of misrepresentation surrounding multiple real estate holdings during her time on the central bank's board.
Pulte said the new referral stems from further evidence that Cook may have misrepresented the use and ownership status of at least three properties—located in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia and Ann Arbor, Michigan—while simultaneously serving in a key federal role.
According to the statement, on April 7, 2021, Cook took out a 15-year mortgage on a condominium in Cambridge, Massachusetts, classifying it as a "second home" to qualify for favorable terms.
However, just eight months later, on December 1, 2021, she filed an ethics form with the U.S. government listing the same property as an "investment/rental property."
Subsequent federal disclosures from 2022 through 2025 reportedly continued to describe the unit as an investment, not a second home.
Pulte's referral also includes allegations related to a property in Atlanta, Georgia, which Cook declared as her primary residence in government filings between 2022 and 2025.
"These inconsistencies suggest that Governor Cook made multiple false representations, including to the U.S. Government, regarding the true status of her mortgages and properties," Pulte said in his statement.
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