🔹 Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell confirms he is under federal criminal investigation related to a $2.5 billion renovation project of the Fed's headquarters in Washington D.C.



🔹 Powell believes the renovation is just a pretext, and the real reason stems from the Fed setting interest rates based on data and economic conditions, rather than yielding to political pressure from President Trump



🔹 The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a subpoena for a grand jury, related to Powell's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June



🔹 Powell emphasized this is an issue of Fed independence, questioning whether monetary policy will continue to be based on economic evidence or risk being influenced by threats and political pressure



🔹 Following Powell's remarks, U.S. stock futures declined, while BTC & crypto generally, and gold/silver contracts, rose



🔹 The investigation is currently overseen by the Office of the District Attorney of Columbia, led by Jeanine Pirro, who was appointed by President Trump



🔹 President Trump has repeatedly publicly criticized Powell for not cutting interest rates quickly enough and has signaled he will replace the Fed Chair when his term ends in May



🔹 Powell could still remain on the Federal Reserve Board until 2028, even if he no longer holds the Chair position, which may limit President Trump's ability to appoint additional new members to the Fed



🔹 Jerome Powell was appointed by President Trump as Fed Chair in 2017 for his first term, officially taking office in 2018. He was later reappointed by President Biden. Prior to that, Powell had served as a Federal Reserve Governor since 2012, meaning he has been involved with the Fed for over a decade in both policymaking and leadership roles



🔹 Context related to Lisa Cook


Lisa Cook was appointed as a Federal Reserve Governor in 2022. Alongside the Powell matter, the Trump administration is attempting to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from the Board of Governors, related to legal allegations she denies. This issue is currently before the Supreme Court, raising concerns about political pressure on the Federal Reserve's personnel structure.



Source:


https://x.com/federalreserve/status/2010510130970849338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2010510130970849338%7Ctwgr%5Ef198dbc360c99837b1f0682cf5821da929115e46%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2026%2F01%2F12%2Ffed-jerome-powell-criminal-probe-nyt.html