US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks throughout a information convention following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) assembly in Washington, DC, on Dec. 10, 2025.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Photographs
Federal prosecutors have opened a legal investigation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, he confirmed on Sunday night.
Powell mentioned the probe was the results of the Fed “setting rates of interest primarily based on our greatest evaluation of what is going to serve the general public, relatively than following the preferences of” President Donald Trump.
“That is about whether or not the Fed will be capable of proceed to set rates of interest primarily based on proof and financial situations—or whether or not as an alternative financial coverage can be directed by political stress or intimidation,” he mentioned in a video assertion tweeted by the Fed’s X account.
Powell mentioned that on Friday “the Division of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas threatening a legal indictment associated to my testimony earlier than the Senate Banking Committee final June,”
“That testimony involved partly, a multi-year challenge to renovate historic Federal Reserve workplace buildings,” he mentioned.
“I’ve deep respect for the rule of regulation and for accountability in our democracy. Nobody, definitely not the chair of the Federal Reserve is above the regulation, however this unprecedented motion ought to be seen within the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing stress,” Powell mentioned.
“Nobody — definitely not the chair of the Federal Reserve — is above the regulation,” he mentioned.
“However this unprecedented motion ought to be seen within the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing stress,” Powell mentioned.
“This new menace isn’t about my testimony final June or in regards to the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It’s not about Congress’s oversight position; the Fed via testimony and different public disclosures made each effort to maintain Congress knowledgeable in regards to the renovation challenge. These are pretexts.”
The New York Instances first reported the probe, citing officers briefed on the matter.
The investigation is being overseen by the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of Columbia, in keeping with the newspaper.
That workplace is led by U.S. Legal professional Jeanine Pirro, a former New York state prosecutor and Fox Information host, who was appointed to that job by Trump.
Trump has repeatedly blasted Powell for the Fed not chopping rates of interest as a lot and as rapidly because the president has demanded since coming into the White Home in January 2025.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, blasted the investigation of Powell and mentioned that he would oppose the nomination of Powell’s alternative by Trump, and another Fed Board nominee, “till this authorized matter is totally resolved.”
“If there have been any remaining doubt whether or not advisers inside the Trump Administration are actively pushing to finish the independence of the Federal Reserve, there ought to now be none,” Tillis mentioned in a press release.
“It’s now the independence and credibility of the Division of Justice which can be in query,” the senator mentioned.
Brian Jacobsen, chief financial strategist at Annex Wealth Administration, in a observe to shoppers on Sunday wrote, “President Trump is attempting to convey legal expenses in opposition to Powell associated to his testimony earlier than Congress in regards to the Fed’s headquarters renovation.”
“Powell could protest by staging a sit-in. His time period as Chair is up in Could, however his time period as a governor is not up till January 2028,”Jacobesen wrote.
“With the political stress on the Fed, he could select to remain on as a governor out of spite. It will deprive President Trump of the flexibility to stack the board with one other appointee,” Jacobsen wrote. “Stephen Miran’s time period is up in January 2026 and which may be the one emptiness Trump will get to fill. It will be unconventional for Powell to remain on, however the whole lot nowadays is unconventional.”
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