Federal Probe Against Fed Chair Jerome Powell was a Pathetic Attempt at Intimidation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, a federal judge blocked subpoenas issued by the U.S. Department of Justice against Fed Chair Jerome Powell in accusing him of giving misleading testimony to Congress.
Public Citizen Co-President Lisa Gilbert issued the following statement:
“Launching this probe against Chair Powell was a barely veiled politically motivated attack by President Trump against Powell and the Fed as an independent agency.
“Trump already has his thumb on the Justice Department, another independent agency, and now he wants to bully the Fed into lowering interest rates. This investigation was a pathetic attempt to intimidate Powell and bend the economy to his will.
“This certainly won’t be the last attempt by the authoritarian Trump to bully and intimidate, but each time an official stands up, each time a court strikes down his effort, the weaker grows his power.”