Trump Triggers Criminal Probe Into Fed Chair Jerome Powell
“If a Fed chair misled Congress on a multibillion-dollar project, accountability is the right thing to do. These are taxpayer dollars…”
President Donald Trump’s escalating confrontation with the Federal Reserve reached a new and extraordinary phase Sunday as federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, setting off a political and institutional firestorm over the independence of the nation’s central bank.
The investigation focuses on the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion renovation of its Washington, D.C. headquarters, a project that has drawn months of scrutiny from Trump allies and critics who allege mismanagement and misleading testimony before Congress. Powell responded publicly within hours, framing the probe as retaliation tied directly to monetary policy disputes rather than any renovation-related wrongdoing.
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: https://t.co/5dfrkByGyX pic.twitter.com/O4ecNaYaGH
— Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) January 12, 2026
“On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June.”
Powell emphasized that while he respects the rule of law and congressional oversight, the investigation represents a dangerous precedent when viewed alongside what he described as sustained political pressure from the White House.
“This unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure. This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings.”
According to CNN, prosecutors are examining whether Powell misled lawmakers about the scope and cost of the renovation, including whether spending records align with his public testimony. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on specifics but said the attorney general is prioritizing investigations involving potential abuse of taxpayer funds.
Powell forcefully rejected the premise of the probe, arguing that Congress was kept informed and that the renovation explanation is merely a pretext for a broader power struggle over interest rates.
“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of 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 attacked Powell over the past year for refusing to cut interest rates as aggressively as the president demanded. Although the Fed lowered rates three times late last year, Powell and other officials have recently signaled a pause, further inflaming tensions.
The investigation has already divided political and media commentary. During a Fox News breaking news segment Sunday night, panelists acknowledged Trump’s public animosity toward Powell but argued that multibillion-dollar government projects warrant scrutiny, even at the highest levels.
“If a Fed chair misled Congress on a multibillion-dollar project, accountability is the right thing to do. These are taxpayer dollars, but you have to be very careful about turning the DOJ against an independent Fed.”
International coverage echoed the concern. The Guardian described the investigation as a significant escalation in Trump’s campaign against the central bank, warning that criminal pressure on Fed leadership risks undermining global confidence in U.S. financial governance.
As subpoenas move forward and Trump prepares to announce Powell’s eventual replacement, the investigation places the Federal Reserve at the center of an unprecedented clash between political authority, prosecutorial power, and monetary independence.
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Comments
Just to put it in perspective, the Pentagon, a *far* larger building, was built for about $1.5b 2025 dollars. Please explain why renovating an existing smaller building would exceed that by a billion dollars?
Someone’s palm is getting greased.
And it’s getting greased with OUR money.
Not only do I agree with calls to audit the Fed, I’m beginning to think that it may not be necessary at all and it’s being used to rob us of our liberties.
And people b1tch about Trump’s gold in the White House… I’d bet my paycheck that it’s 1) paid for by Trump himself and 2) is easily removed in case the next president doesn’t like it.
That’s not the case with the Federal Reserve building.
The Fed should not exist. End it.
If only we actually had in independent Fed.
“The Fed” was created out of extreme fraud. Wealthy and controlling men created it in the dead of night on a small island. A presidential candidate had and took the offer of campaign $$$ to become president ON THE CONDITION that when president, he would insure its “legal” beginning. It still has NO OVERSIGHT!
In all fairness and for complete lack of corruption, major changes need to be made and FAST!
Spot on . . . Jekyll Island, 1913, Woodrow SOB Wilson.
Trump wants lower interest rates, not understanding that it produces inflation, and this is a back door.
Glad you brought that up. Per Gemini … “The Federal Reserve did cut interest rates in 2024, with actions in September, November, and December, lowering the federal funds rate from a peak of 5.25%-5.5% down to the 4.25%-4.5% range by year-end”
Also per Gemini … “In 2024, US inflation averaged around 3.4%, with rates declining towards the end of the year (around 2.9% in Dec 2024), while 2025 saw a stabilization or slight uptick from those lows, hovering near 2.7-3% by late 2025, with projections suggesting a gradual decrease back towards the 2% target”
So with inflation even higher than it is projected to be in 2025, Powell was getting interest rates cut prior to the 2024 election.
Paraphrasing Glenn Reynolds, he’s not independent, he’s on the other side.
The party in the WH usually does want lower interest rates. The lower borrowing cost benefit the private sector, at least those with access to capital, but especially large financial institutions who can then use their preferential position gaining an advantage of lower capital costs to buy assets….. like residential real estate. In some markets the % is staggering; near 18% in Birmingham higher than 20% in Atlanta, St Louis and several TN metros.
Of course cheaper borrowing also helps the WH b/c they can redirect the costs of borrowing that would have been spent on interest payments towards other spending items and priorities they have.
This is not true. Low interest rates benefit me too, through lower mortgage costs and so on and I am hardly an institutional invester.
You seem to have misinterpreted my comment. Of course lower rates benefit ordinary borrowers I didn’t argue otherwise..
Yet it remains very true that large financial firms/banks, institutional investors have access to capital borrowing at lower costs than ordinary people. Some even have access to lines of credit directly from the Fed Reserve and often at rates far lower than if they borrowed on the open market.
I personally have no debt. I paid for my current home in cash, my 2015 vehicle I bought used for cash in 2014 and pay off my credit card each month. There’s lots more folks like me than many realize. About 1/4 ish maybe a bit more homeowners have no mortgage.
There’s also far more who have tons of debt MCMansion Mortgage, two vehicles, boat, jet ski, an RV, another ‘toy’ like a Polaris RZR side by side to go ‘mudding’ (those start at $20K FWIW). Add on student loans and it adds up pretty quick. Heck even if folks do the ‘right thing’ financially save, invest, minimize expenses, maximize wages with good career choices and a side hustle and delay gratification it’s tough today.
Excess govt spending causes inflation, not interest rates. Bidwn’s 9% inflation illustrated that nicely
There is no such thing as an independent Federal Reserve, or for that matter an independent anything, including judges. These organizations are run by people and people are human with all it implies. There is a long history of government programs running amuck, costing taxpayers large amounts of money. Those in charge owe an accounting right down to every person involved in the project. Until those responsible for cost estimating malfeasance are held accountable it will continue.
At the Fed Reserve Board of Governors, the ratio of Democrat to Republican economists in leadership positions was found to be 45 to 1.
This is pretty rich even for Trump. The crux is that Powell is sneakily trying to create extra fancy digs to luxuriate in even though completion won’t occur until after he’s gone. I guess we are supposed to believe he is doing this to accommodate a decadent office environment for future members.
This is patently ridiculous and Powell has already responded to Trump’s exaggerations and mischaracterizations. Trump should concentrate on deportations, lowering taxes, cutting red tape and slashing entitlements. Keep politicians out of monetary policy.
Nope, the crux is money is disappearing. Their excuse is the water table and amount of asbestos were both unknown prior to construction, both patently ridiculous lies.
this is about Powell lying to Congress
Powell already made his
Ill gotten gains legally decades ago like Romney. He skinned a company alive with an LBO and left it to wither after stripping its cash.
He has no need or profit in this building renovation. It is harassment going nowhere.
Wrong.
The crux is that like way too many federal projects, the cost massively increased and Powell refuses to actually provide an accounting of where and to who that money went, and that allegedly he provably lied under oath about how much it cost and where it went (I haven’t seen the exact transcript though).
$2.5 billion is a lot of money, or isn’t it? A government official should not be permitted to spend that kind of money on pet projects and then complain when it’s time to show the receipts.
I absolutely oppose this. Powell may be as guilty as a goose in a corn crib but investigating sitting officials is beyond the pale. This reeks.
So holding office means absolute immunity?
Gee, that answers a LOT of my questions over the past 20 years.
How do we apply your proposed standard of not even investigating potential ongoing fraud, malfeasance or other crime committed in office?
“Investigating sitting officials is beyond the pale”
That’s what Bill Clinton said.
So being a sitting official is a magical shield against any investigation.
Short of setting up a Bank of the United States outside the purview of the federal government, which has happened twice before in American history, can and should the Fed be considered and independent EXECUTIVE agency? The issue here is the Fed has all the attributes of an executive agency: in particular, governors are selected by the President subject to Senate approval. All federal agencies are considered arms of the President because the Constitution recognizes only three branches of government. Why should the Fed be considered be considered a fourth branch, outside the control of the Executive? Having said that, I do not think it is a good idea to criminally charge Powell over policy differences. President Trump was the target of such trumped up charges, so he should know better. As the Jewish Sage Hillel of Classical Antiquity said, don’t do to others what is hateful to you. A better solution to the cost overruns might be for the President to take control of the building project and assign it to another federal agency.
The Federal Reserve is not a branch of the government.
clumsy and this will backfire. What Trump doesnt need is a protracted battle for Fed Chair during the mid terms
Does anyone doubt Trump’s expertise on real-estate management and remodeling?
RINOs are already circling the wagons.
its legit to protect the citizens from government fraud
investigate the procedure…if powell ,,,like omar happens to be guilty
then doj
the fed is just another ,in a long line, of sick twisted tricks played on the citizens
Powell’s term ends in May. No DoJ action could possibly take place before then so what is the purpose of this? This only has the potential of creating another attack on Trump which he doesn’t need. As I taught my kids, always ask yourself what is the best and worse outcome of your decision. I don’t see an upside for Trump on this.
Just because Powell is no long the Fed Chairman doesn’t mean that he can’t be prosecuted
Need an investigation to see:
1. Documents showing why costs jumped from 1.9 billion to 3 billion.
2.. Whether the massive expansion including underground parking and new atria is actually necessary or whether it’s a way over the top luxury.
3. Details on how much the renovation project delays the Fed’s ability to return profits to the U.S. Treasury—the Fed is currently reporting operational losses over 100 billion a year.
4. Whether Powell’s 2025 testimony matches what he told Congress.
5. Why a remodel of the Fed Building costs 7 times more the cost of Trump’s new Ballroom.
Elizabeth Warren’s pet project, the CPFB, shattered all previous precedents in terms of the cost an opulence of federal office buildings. It was built like a Wall Street Banksters palace. Now all the other swamp critters want a similar level of glitz and glamor in their offices.
It’s ironic since Warren always rails against Wall Street. It reveals a lot about her that she mimicked what they have… it’s not that she is against wealth and extravagance, it’s just that SHE wants to control who has it. Typical Marxist c*nt.
Reminder: too-low interest rates at time when the government is running massive deficits is inflationary. Personally id rather that the deficit shrank to zero and Uncle Scam cut spending. Powell keeps rates higher than preferred because spending is still too high.
Trump may not like the cure…but the last thing anyone needs before the midterms is another spike in inflation.
Excellent!
“Powell responded publicly within hours, framing the probe as retaliation tied directly to monetary policy disputes rather than any renovation-related wrongdoing.”
I fear he is probably right in that response.
This is the standard TDS diatribe. Any fraudster opposed to Trump is to be given immunity, otherwise it’s political
Just stop with the BS that any criticism or hesitancy to laud everything Trump does is TDS. The actual investigation itself may be focused on legit concerns. However it very likely may have been initiated because of disagreements Powell has with Trump. And where pray tell in my post did the word “immunity” ever appear?
Then maybe he shouldn’t have cut interest rates to try to help Harris get elected, and then refused to cut rates to try to screw Trump (then cut it by the absolute smallest amount possible).
Act like a political scumbag, get treated like a political scumbag.
Gosh, D.C. is where you meet the nicest people.
These Deep State co*ksuckers have literally tried to kill him twice, throw him in prison and remove his name from the ballot in 34 states.
Now that he’s punching back they whine like the sick little c*nts that they are.
Game on, bitches.
And how is any of that related?
Investigating the Fed chairman? Okay.
Investigating the Fed chairman while the president is beefing with him? Not okay.
Twenty years ago I’d agree. Heck ten years ago I’d probably have agreed.
Unfortunately the d/prog and the DC establishment/uniparty have already pushed the Overton window wide open to now encompass this sort of thing. The arguments to ‘stay above the fray’ or ‘not undertake actions which could be perceived as politically motivated’ have expired…. at least until ALL the players and Parties involved agree to stop doing it. Unilateral disarmament and trying to advance agenda with one arms tied beyond our back is doomed to failure.
Ah, yes, the “Let’s out-Socialist the Democrats and accelerate the Overton Window” move is such a brilliant tactic.
The agenda is so bad that even Powell/The Fed are less retarded. It should not be attempted at all no matter the tactics involved.