A judge has quashed a set of subpoenas tied to a criminal probe against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, writing that “the Government has offered no evidence whatsoever that Powell committed any crime other than displeasing the President.” Now as a result, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro is displeased and raging about it.
The subpoenas date back to January, when Powell revealed that he was being targeted by the White House for his resistance to lowering federal interest rates. For its part, the administration claimed the probe was launched due to purported misleading statements made by Powell regarding renovation costs at the Federal Reserve office buildings. A federal judge, however, didn’t buy it.
“There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas' dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will,” the judge declared, effectively putting an end to the investigation.
Pirro was not happy with the outcome.
Speaking immediately after the judge’s decision, she complained that the “activist judge” James Boasberg — who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2011 — had “neutered the grand jury's ability to investigate crime,” leaving Powell “bathed in immunity” in a Washington, DC, "where no one is held accountable.” She offered little evidence to support such claims.
Boasberg, however, cited a number of statements by Trump as proof of the president’s real intentions, such as a social media post where he ranted, “Jerome 'Too Late' Powell has done it again!!! He is TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair.”
"That is one of at least 100 statements that the President or his deputies have made attacking the Chair of the Federal Reserve and pressuring him to lower interest rates,” wrote Boasberg in his decision.
This is another in a growing string of defeats for Pirro since being appointed US Attorney by Trump one year ago. She failed to indict six Democratic lawmakers who made a video urging members of the military to refuse illegal orders. Her cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James were thrown out. She was unable to secure charges against a man accused of assaulting federal agents with a sandwich. And the list goes on.
What links all of these targets is the blatant political motivation for leveling prosecution against them.
As former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori wrote, “It is now clear that Pirro…is willing to use her power to try to intimidate and punish Trump’s political opponents — even if that means degrading herself, the office and DOJ, and wasting taxpayers’ money all at the same time.”
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