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The Justice Department was forced to use the “legal process” to obtain information related to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony about renovations at the central bank after he “ignored” requests from prosecutors, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Monday.
Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, DC, downplayed Powell’s shocking Sunday night suggestion that he was facing a criminal indictment after grand jury subpoenas were served to the Federal Reserve related to his June 2025 testimony to the Senate Banking Committee about the renovation project, which has been panned by President Trump.
“The United States Attorney’s Office contacted the Federal Reserve on multiple occasions to discuss cost overruns and the chairman’s congressional testimony, but were ignored, necessitating the use of legal process — which is not a threat,” Pirro wrote on X.
“The word ‘indictment’ has come out of Mr. Powell’s mouth, no one else’s,” the US attorney continued. “None of this would have happened if they had just responded to our outreach.”
Pirro said her office would make “decisions based on the merits, nothing more and nothing less.”
“We agree with the chairman of the Federal Reserve that no one is above the law, and that is why we expect his full cooperation,” she added.
Powell, in a rare video message confirming the DOJ probe, described the criminal investigation as an “unprecedented action” that came as a direct response to the Federal Reserve “setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president.”
Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell for being slow to slash interest rates.
The president has also publicly floated the idea of firing the Fed chairman, as well as filing a lawsuit against him, for “gross incompetence” related to the Fed headquarters renovation.
Trump has complained that the $2.5 billion project, started in 2022, has been mismanaged by Powell and is over budget by roughly $1.5 billion.
In his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Powell denied the revamp included luxury features – such as a VIP dining room, new marble, new water features and roof terrace gardens – laid out in project planning documents approved in 2021.
Trump denied any involvement in the criminal probe during an interview with NBC News on Sunday.
English (US)