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The Trump administration’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared on Monday to be emboldening defenders of the U.S. central bank against the efforts of President Donald Trump to control the Fed, The Associated Press reports.
The backlash reflected the bigger stakes over the fate of the Fed’s independence, the balance of power within the federal government, and the path of the U.S. economy. Trump has long publicly lashed out against Powell for not slashing the Fed’s benchmark interest rates to his liking, but the prospect of a criminal indictment was a step too far for an institution that has an outsized influence on both inflation and the job market.
Several Republican senators have condemned the Department of Justice’s subpoenas of the Fed, which Powell revealed Sunday and characterized as “pretexts” to pressure him to sharply cut interest rates as Trump has demanded. Powell also said the Justice Department has threatened criminal indictments over his June testimony to Congress about the cost and design elements of a building renovation.
Trump has repeatedly used investigations—which might or might not lead to an actual indictment—to attack his political rivals, including Fed Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James and James Comey, the former FBI director.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump did not direct his Justice Department to investigate Powell.
“One thing for sure, the president’s made it quite clear, is Jerome Powell is bad at his job,” Leavitt said. “As for whether or not Jerome Powell is a criminal, that’s an answer the Department of Justice is going to have to find out.”
