{"id":510833,"date":"2026-01-12T12:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/510833\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T12:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:48:08","slug":"trump-team-ramps-up-attack-on-feds-powell-with-criminal-indictment-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/510833\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump team ramps up attack on Fed&#8217;s Powell with criminal indictment threat"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul data-testid=\"Summary\" class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\">\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Powell accuses administration of using legal threats to influence Fed policy<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Subpoenas mark escalation in Trump-Powell conflict over interest rates<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">White House criticized Fed&#8217;s $2.5 billion building renovation as costly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Jan 12 (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration has ramped up its pressure campaign on the Federal Reserve, threatening to indict Chair Jerome Powell over comments to Congress about a building renovation project, an action Powell called a &#8220;pretext&#8221; to gain more influence over interest rates Trump wants cut dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>The latest development in a long-running effort by Trump for greater control over the Fed had immediate fallout, with Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee that vets Presidential nominees for the Fed, saying the threatened indictment puts the Department of Justice&#8217;s &#8220;independence and credibility&#8221; in question. Tillis said he would oppose any Trump nominees to the Fed, including the coming choice of successor to Powell as chair, &#8220;until this legal matter is fully resolved.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/finance\/trump-team-ramps-up-attack-feds-powell-with-criminal-indictment-threat-2026-01-12\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fbusiness%2Ffinance%2Ftrump-team-ramps-up-attack-feds-powell-with-criminal-indictment-threat-2026-01-12%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At stake is the independence of the Fed &#8211; the world&#8217;s most important central bank &#8211; to set U.S. monetary policy without undue influence by elected officials like Trump who would prefer cheaper borrowing costs for their political appeal.<\/p>\n<p>Powell &#8211; elevated to Fed chair by Trump in 2018 &#8211; will complete his term as Fed leader in May, but he is not obligated to leave, and a number of analysts saw the latest move by the administration as adding to the chances of him staying on in defiance.<\/p>\n<p>The action &#8211; emerging about two weeks before Trump&#8217;s effort to fire another Fed official, Governor Lisa Cook, will be argued before the Supreme Court &#8211; was met with a guarded reaction on Wall Street.<\/p>\n<p>Investors have been warily watching as the sparring match between Trump and the Fed has played out ever since Trump was elected to a second term in November 2024 on promises to improve affordability for Americans after a run of high inflation.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation and Powell&#8217;s pointed response <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/investors-anxious-over-make-or-break-fight-fed-2026-01-12\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sharply escalates<\/a> a row that risks upending the independence of the Fed, a bedrock of U.S. economic policy and a cornerstone of its financial system, investors said.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. dollar fell by the most in three weeks on Monday. Gold shot to a record high, U.S. stock futures dropped and markets priced in a slightly higher chance of short-term interest rate cuts.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tonight&#8217;s revelations mark a dramatic escalation in the administration\u2019s effort to kick the legs out from under the Fed, and could unleash a series of unintended consequences that go directly against President Trump\u2019s stated aims,&#8221; said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;THREATS AND ONGOING PRESSURE&#8217;U.S. President Donald Trump, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought tour the Federal Reserve Board building, which is currently undergoing renovations, in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 24, 2025. REUTERS\/Kent Nishimura <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersconnect.com\/item\/us-president-trump-tours-the-federal-reserve-board-building-in-washington-dc\/dGFnOnJldXRlcnMuY29tLDIwMjU6bmV3c21sX1JDMjhURkFETDg1VA%3D%3D\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76 collapsible-caption-module__license__CPQvV\">Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Trump officials&#8217; latest salvo was revealed late Sunday by Powell, who said the Fed had received subpoenas from the Justice Department last week pertaining to remarks he made to Congress last summer over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion building renovation project at the Fed&#8217;s headquarters complex in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June,&#8221; Powell said. &#8220;I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one\u2014certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve\u2014is above the law.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration\u2019s threats and ongoing pressure&#8221; for lower interest rates and more broadly for greater say over the Fed, he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It is not about Congress\u2019s oversight role&#8230;Those are pretexts. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trump told NBC News Sunday that he had no knowledge of the Justice Department&#8217;s actions. \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about it, but he\u2019s certainly not very good at the Fed, and he\u2019s not very good at building buildings,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the case but added: \u201cThe Attorney General has instructed her U.S. Attorneys to prioritize investigating any abuse of taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>POWELL INQUIRY A &#8216;LOW POINT&#8217; IN TRUMP PRESIDENCY<\/p>\n<p>Trump has demanded the Fed cut rates sharply since resuming office in January, blaming its policy for holding back the economy and musing about firing Powell despite the legal protections ostensibly covering the Fed chair from removal.<\/p>\n<p>The independence of central banks, at least in setting interest rates in order to control inflation, is considered a central tenet of robust economic policy, insulating monetary policymakers from short-term political considerations and allowing them to focus on longer-term efforts to keep prices relatively stable.<\/p>\n<p>The inquiry into Powell \u201cis a low point in Trump&#8217;s presidency and a low point in the history of central banking in America,\u201d said Peter Conti-Brown, a Fed historian at the University of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongress did not design the Fed to reflect the president&#8217;s daily fluctuations, and because the Fed has rebuffed President Trump&#8217;s efforts to take the Fed down he is launching the full weight of American criminal law against its Chair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Howard Schneider, Ann Saphir and Michael Derby; additional reporting by Saqib Ahmed in New York; Editing by Shri Navaratnam<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><a data-testid=\"AuthorBioImageLink\" class=\"author-bio-module__author-image__jcaG3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/authors\/howard-schneider\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" tabindex=\"-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 author-bio-module__description__9ynkB\">Covers the U.S. Federal Reserve, monetary policy and the economy, a graduate of the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University with previous experience as a foreign correspondent, economics reporter and on the local staff of the Washington Post.<\/p>\n<p><a data-testid=\"AuthorBioImageLink\" class=\"author-bio-module__author-image__jcaG3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/authors\/ann-saphir\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" tabindex=\"-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 author-bio-module__description__9ynkB\">Reports on the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy. Stories can be found at reuters.com. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Powell accuses administration of using legal threats to influence Fed policy Subpoenas mark escalation in Trump-Powell conflict over&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":510834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[216147,216193,217543,224382,217544,216397,217902,218094,216409,218102,216216,216152,216410,216404,216215,216164,216403,216153,216398,55855,1257,67458,101727,165856,218095,51,218096,59960,224744,4630,127860,165849,216165,216149,50,216143,216395,218091,216405,216155,216401,165860,33106,175344,216408,218093,225461,52,216158,216157,68,83854],"class_list":{"0":"post-510833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-amers","9":"tag-bisv","10":"tag-bnk","11":"tag-bnks","12":"tag-bsvc","13":"tag-cen","14":"tag-clj","15":"tag-dbt","16":"tag-destlita","17":"tag-destobnk","18":"tag-destocabsm","19":"tag-destocatpm","20":"tag-destogov","21":"tag-destortao","22":"tag-destousbsm","23":"tag-destousdnm","24":"tag-destouspom","25":"tag-destoustpm","26":"tag-eci","27":"tag-eco","28":"tag-fed","29":"tag-fin","30":"tag-fins","31":"tag-gen","32":"tag-gvd","33":"tag-headlines","34":"tag-infl","35":"tag-int","36":"tag-judic","37":"tag-legal","38":"tag-mce","39":"tag-mtpix","40":"tag-mtvid","41":"tag-namer","42":"tag-news","43":"tag-news1","44":"tag-nrlinogov","45":"tag-nrlpaobnk","46":"tag-packageus-politics","47":"tag-packageus-top-news","48":"tag-plcy","49":"tag-pol","50":"tag-potus","51":"tag-rep","52":"tag-reuters-legal","53":"tag-rulesmarkets-us-fed","54":"tag-sen","55":"tag-top-stories","56":"tag-topcmb","57":"tag-topnws","58":"tag-us","59":"tag-wash"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}