U.S. Legal professional Jeanine Pirro defended her workplace’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a message on X Monday night time, claiming the Fed “ignored” requests for details about “value overruns” and Powell’s testimony, “necessitating the usage of authorized course of.”
“The phrase “indictment” has come out of Mr. Powell’s mouth, nobody else’s. None of this could have occurred if they’d simply responded to our outreach,” wrote Pirro, the usattorney for the District of Columbia. “This workplace makes selections based mostly on the deserves, nothing extra and nothing much less. We agree with the chairman of the Federal Reserve that nobody is above the legislation, and that’s the reason we anticipate his full cooperation.”
Powell confirmed the probe in an uncommon public video message Sunday night time the place he mentioned the DOJ threatened “legal indictment” via grand jury subpoenas. The announcement sparked backlash from former Federal Reserve and Treasury officers in addition to present members of Congress, together with these in President Donald Trump’s personal social gathering.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who serves on the Senate Banking Committee, known as the DOJ investigation “one other instance of beginner hour” when requested by ABC Information on Monday what his message is to Trump and the president’s advisers.
“I’ve mentioned repeatedly I very seldom disagree with the president, however I disagree with unhealthy recommendation he has been given,” Tillis mentioned. “He has publicly mentioned he wasn’t conscious of this.”
A bipartisan group of prime financial officers launched a blistering assertion on Monday calling the probe an “unprecedented try to make use of prosecutorial assaults to undermine” the central financial institution’s independence.
“That is how financial coverage is made in rising markets with weak establishments, with extremely damaging penalties for inflation and the functioning of their economies extra broadly. It has no place in the USA whose biggest power is the rule of legislation, which is on the basis of our financial success,” learn the assertion from Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen, Tim Geithner, Jacob Lew, Hank Paulson and others.
The investigation is expounded to Powell’s testimony final June in regards to the multiyear renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings in Washington. However Trump has made Powell a frequent goal of his assaults and push to chop rates of interest.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press convention following a two-day assembly of the Federal Open Market Committee on the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, December 10, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Trump denied any involvement within the legal probe throughout a quick interview with NBC Information on Sunday night time however continued his criticism of Powell’s management. White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday mentioned “no” Trump didn’t direct the Justice Division to analyze however argued the president has “each proper to criticize the Fed chair.”
ABC Information Chief White Home Correspondent Mary Bruce requested Leavitt, “Does the president consider that the Fed ought to function independently from him?”
“The president has made it fairly clear he thinks Jerome Powell is unhealthy at his job. And the president has made it fairly clear, as have many economists, by the way in which, that rates of interest ought to be lowered and they need to have been lowered a very long time in the past,” she responded.
“However does he consider within the independence of the Fed?” Bruce pressed.
“He has and he mentioned that many occasions,” Leavitt mentioned.
White Home Nationwide Financial Council Director Kevin Hassett, who’s on Trump’s quick checklist to be the subsequent Federal Reserve chair, mentioned time will inform if the probe is a pretext for firing Powell over rates of interest.
“Nicely, within the fullness of time, we’ll discover out whether or not it appears like a pretext,” Hassett, who denied involvement within the probe, advised CNBC in an look on Monday. “However proper now, we have got a constructing that is received, like, dramatic value overruns and, you already know, plans for the buildings that look inconsistent with the testimony. However, you already know, once more, I am not a Justice Division particular person. I hope the whole lot seems OK.”
Tillis mentioned he’ll oppose the affirmation of any Trump nominee to the Federal Reserve till authorized issues regarding Powell are resolved, which may make it troublesome for a nominee to advance out of committee.
“If there have been any remaining doubt whether or not advisers throughout the Trump Administration are actively pushing to finish the independence of the Federal Reserve, there ought to now be none. It’s now the independence and credibility of the Division of Justice which are in query,” Tillis mentioned in a press release on Sunday night time.
Senator Thom Tillis arrives to attend a briefing for senators on the state of affairs in Venezuela, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., January 7, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in a publish on X on Monday, mentioned Tillis is “proper in blocking any Federal Reserve nominees.”
“After talking with Chair Powell this morning, it is clear the administration’s investigation is nothing greater than an try at coercion. If the Division of Justice believes an investigation into Chair Powell is warranted based mostly on mission value overruns — which aren’t uncommon — then Congress wants to analyze the Division of Justice. The stakes are too excessive to look the opposite means: if the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the steadiness of our markets and the broader financial system will undergo,” Murkowski posted on X.
Home Monetary Providers Chairman Rep. French Hill, a Republican, mentioned pursuing legal costs in opposition to Powell is “an pointless distraction.” Sen. Kevin Cramer, one other Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, mentioned that he doesn’t consider Powell is a legal and that he hopes the legal matter will quickly be put to relaxation.
Home Speaker Mike Johnson advised reporters on Monday that “if the investigation is warranted, then they’ll must play that out.” When pressed if he believed the probe is warranted, Johnson mentioned, “I’ve not reviewed his testimony, so I’m not certain, however that is probably not my lane.”
A spokesperson for Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi mentioned Bondi “has instructed her U.S. Attorneys to prioritize investigating any abuse of taxpayer {dollars}.” Powell mentioned in his assertion the probe was fueled by Trump’s monthslong stress marketing campaign on him to decrease rates of interest.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks about the way forward for the Democratic Social gathering throughout her Nationwide Press Membership Headliners Newsmaker speech on the Nationwide Press Membership in Washington, January 12, 2026.
Invoice Clark/CQ Roll Name through AP
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the highest Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, slammed Trump as a “wannabe dictator” over his marketing campaign in opposition to Powell.
“Appearing just like the wannabe dictator he’s, Trump is making an attempt to push out the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and full his corrupt takeover of America’s central financial institution in order that it serves his pursuits, alongside together with his billionaire mates,” Warren mentioned in a speech about the way forward for the Democratic Social gathering forward of 2028 on the Nationwide Press Membership.
ABC Information’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
