US Fed Chair Jerome Powell under criminal investigation
Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, he said Sunday.
In a video announcing the investigation, Powell said the U.S. justice department had subpoenaed the agency and threatened criminal charges over testimony it gave to a Senate committee about renovating Fed buildings.
He called the investigation “unprecedented” and said he believed it was opened because President Donald Trump was angered by the president’s refusal to cut interest rates despite sustained public pressure.
The Fed chairman is the latest figure to clash with Trump and subsequently face criminal investigation by the US justice department.
“This is about whether the Fed can continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether monetary policy will instead be guided through political pressure or intimidation,” Powell said.
“I have deep respect for the rule of law and accountability in our democracy. No one, least of all the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, is above the law, but this unprecedented action, the administration’s threats, and continued pressure must be seen in the broader context,” he said.
Powell has been repeatedly criticized by Trump for not lowering interest rates as quickly as the president wanted. The Fed reduced interest rates three times in the second half of 2025.
Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said he would oppose replacing Powell with Trump or any other Fed Board nominee “until this legal matter is fully resolved.”
“If there was any doubt left about whether advisors within the Trump Administration were actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should be no doubt now,” Tillis said in a statement. he said.
“What is at stake now is the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice,” the senator said.
The investigation will be overseen by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, according to the New York Times, which first reported on the investigation.
