President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett , said Wednesday that Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook should go on leave from the central bank even as she plans to file a lawsuit challenging her removal by Trump.

"If I were her in her circumstance, I would take leave," Hassett told reporters outside the White House.

"I think it's the honorable thing to do," he continued, after a reporter asked about whether Cook should be presumed innocent of allegations of mortgage fraud raised by another Trump-appointed official.

Hassett also defended Trump's ability to remove a Fed governor "for cause," which is the legal requirement for a president to fire a board member at the central bank.

Cook, the first Black woman to serve as a Fed governor, is expected t

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