Judge Jeanine Pirro says the Department of Justice is dropping its criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve and its leader, Chair Jerome Powell.
“This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns—in the billions of dollars—that have been borne by taxpayers,” the U.S. Attorney for D.C. said in a post on X, referring to allegations the Trump administration has leveled at Powell.
“Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry,” she went on, adding she will “not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”
The Fed’s Office of Inspector General has already twice reviewed the claims against Powell. On both occasions, it found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Trump had raged against Powell, whom he appointed during his first term, for refusing to lower interest rates at the speed the president demanded.
Then the administration opened a criminal investigation into Powell’s congressional testimony regarding a multi-billion-dollar renovation of the Fed’s headquarters in D.C.
Powell called the probe “unprecedented” and framed it as part of an ongoing intimidation campaign.
A federal judge agreed, blasting the investigation as unjustified and quashing Pirro’s subpoenas—a move she had previously vowed to appeal.
Powell’s saving grace appears to have come in the form of Republican Senator Thom Tillis.
The president had pushed hard for Kevin Warsh, a former Fed Governor tapped by the president in January, to replace Powell when his term comes to an end next month.
Tillis repeatedly blocked Warsh’s nomination against what he framed as the Justice Department’s “bogus” investigation of Powell.
The North Carolina Senator, who’s retiring next year, had vowed to vote with Democrats against Warsh’s confirmation until the probe was dropped.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Justice Department for comment on this story.
