U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has issued an ultra-defensive statement after her office’s disputed investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell drew major backlash.
Pirro, a former Fox News host whom Donald Trump handpicked as the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., is leading the investigation into Powell—an inquiry that even Republican lawmakers have blasted as a revenge plot against one of the president’s adversaries that threatens the independence of America’s central bank.
The probe centers on the cost of renovating historic Federal Reserve office buildings and on testimony Powell gave to the Senate Banking Committee in 2025. In a damning statement, Powell said the Fed made “every effort to keep” Congress informed about the project and that the “threat” of criminal charges is rooted in the Federal Reserve’s refusal to bow to Trump’s pressure to cut interest rates when he wanted them to.
In a post on X, Pirro claimed her office contacted the Federal Reserve on “multiple occasions” to discuss cost overruns related to the renovation project and Powell’s congressional testimony but “were ignored, necessitating the use of legal process—which is not a threat.”
“The word ‘indictment’ has come out of Mr. Powell’s mouth, no one else’s. None of this would have happened if they had just responded to our outreach,” Pirro said. “This office makes decisions based on the merits, nothing more and nothing less. We agree with the chairman of the Federal Reserve that no one is above the law, and that is why we expect his full cooperation.”
The backtracking come amid reports that Pirro failed to obtain the necessary sign-off from her superiors at the Department of Justice before subpoenaing the Federal Reserve as part of her probe, according to Bloomberg.
Sources also told NBC News that Pirro’s office did not contact the White House or the Treasury Department before issuing the subpoenas, and that Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte—who spearheaded the push to investigate the Federal Reserve—was also allegedly left in the dark.
GOP lawmakers and Trump administration figures quickly spoke out against the probe, raising concerns about its legal merits and warning that an investigation into the central bank could spook markets amid an already turbulent economy.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the allegations the DOJ has made against Powell “better be real” and “better be serious.”
Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said he will refuse to support any of Trump’s picks for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors—including a replacement for Powell, whose term as chair ends in May—until the dubious legal matter is “fully resolved.”
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski called the investigation “nothing more than an attempt at coercion,” while backing Tillis’ push to block confirmations. North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, a vocal critic of Powell, said that even he does not believe the Fed chair is a “criminal” and hopes the issue can be “put to rest quickly.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was reportedly so alarmed by the investigation that he called Trump to warn it had already “made a mess” and could disrupt financial markets. “The secretary isn’t happy, and he let the president know,” a source told Axios.
An unnamed Trump adviser similarly described the immediate fallout from Pirro’s probe to The Wall Street Journal as a “huge cluster.”
Trump claimed to NBC News that he did not “know anything” about the DOJ investigation into Powell—a man the president has spent months openly criticizing and threatening to fire or investigate—and insisted the probe had nothing to do with Powell’s refusal to cut interest rates more quickly.
The Daily Beast has contacted Pirro’s office and the Department of Justice for comment.
A spokesperson for the White House deferred an enquiry to the DoJ.
