U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on December 10, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Federal prosecutors opened a criminal case Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powellhe confirmed on Sunday evening.
Powell said the results of the investigation Fed “tuning interest rates “It’s based on your best judgment of what’s in the best interest of the public, rather than following the president’s whims Donald Trump.
“It’s Friday Department of Justice Served the Federal Reserve under a grand jury subpoena, threatening criminal charges related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June,” Powell said in a video statement tweeted by the Fed’s X account.
“This testimony relates in part to a multi-year project to renovate the Federal Reserve’s historic office buildings,” he said.
“I deeply respect the rule of law and accountability in our democracy. No one, certainly the chairman of the Federal Reserve System, is above the law, but this unprecedented action must be viewed in the broader context of threats and sustained pressure from the administration,” Powell said.
It was first reported by The New York Times investigators reported this with reference to officials.
According to the newspaper, the investigation is being supervised by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
That office is headed by Jeanine Pirro, a US attorney, former New York state attorney and Fox News host who was appointed by Trump to the job.
Trump has repeatedly blasted Powell over the Fed’s failure to cut interest rates as quickly and as quickly as the president has called for since taking office in January 2025.
Sen. Tom Tillis, R-North Carolina and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, praised Powell’s investigation and said he would oppose the nomination of Trump and any other Fed board nominee to replace Powell “until this legal matter is fully resolved.”
“If there was any doubt that advisers in the Trump administration were actively pushing to end the Federal Reserve’s independence, there should be none,” Tillis said in a statement.
“Now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice is at stake,” the senator said.
Brian Jacobsen, Chief Economic Strategist at “President Trump is seeking criminal charges against Powell in connection with his testimony before Congress on the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters,” Annex Wealth Management wrote in a note to clients on Sunday.
“Powell may protest by holding a sit-in. His term as chairman ends in May, but his term as governor does not expire until January 2028,” Jacobsen wrote.
“With political pressure on the Fed, he may choose to stay on as an unhinged governor. This would deprive President Trump of the opportunity to combine the board with another appointee,” Jacobsen wrote. “Stephen Meeran’s term expires in January 2026, and this may be the only vacancy Trump fills. It would be unusual for Powell to stay on, but things are unconventional these days.”
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