By Ann Saphir, Bo Erickson and Trevor Hunnicutt
Nov 6 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook's lawyer has asked the White House to address fairness and process concerns before she attends a hearing that President Donald Trump wants held to assess whether he should fire her, even as one of the conveners said on Friday that it would go forward on December 14 as planned.
Trump has for more than a year been trying to remove Cook over mortgage fraud allegations that she denies and maintains are
a pretense to oust her over her monetary policy decisions.
The Supreme Court in June ruled Trump cannot fire a Fed governor "at will" but may be able to do so for cause, if there is an opportunity for a defense. Trump's top economic aide, Kevin Hassett, has said the proposed hearing, which the president initially set for November 5, is designed to provide just that.
A White House official had told Reuters on Wednesday that the hearing had been rescheduled for December 14.
"There are no further changes to the schedule right now," Hassett told Reuters when asked if the White House will proceed with the hearing over objections from Cook's legal team.
Cook's lawyers have said she could be available if certain issues are addressed by the time the hearing is held, including the neutrality of the committee holding it, the "disclosure of any evidence they want to address, and roles of others in the process," a representative for her legal team told Reuters on Thursday, adding that her counsel has asked the White House to resolve those concerns.
Cook's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, had previously raised questions over whether the hearing, part of a White House investigation into Cook to be led by Hassett and two other Trump appointees, would be fair.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir, Bo Erickson and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Paul Simao)
