Jerome Powell Investigated Over Fed HQ Renovation Costs

Good evening. 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. That testimony concerned in part a multi-year project to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings. I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one—certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve—is above the law. But 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. It is not about Congress's oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates b FED'S POWELL IN STATEMENT SAYS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ON FRIDAY THREATENED CRIMINAL INDICTMENT RELATED TO HIS SENATE TESTIMONY LAST JUNE POWELL SAYS THREAT OF CRIMINAL CHARGES IS A CONSEQUENCE OF FED'S SETTING INTEREST RATES BASED ON ITS ASSESSMENT OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST RATHER THAN THE PRESIDENT'S PREFERENCES *POWELL: THIS IS ABOUT WHETHER FED CAN SET RATES INDEPENDENTLY