Overview
- Chief Judge James E. Boasberg ruled there was essentially zero evidence Powell committed a crime and said the subpoenas’ dominant purpose was to pressure or harass him.
- The quashed subpoenas sought records tied to renovations at the Federal Reserve’s headquarters and Powell’s related congressional testimony.
- U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro denounced the decision in a heated press conference and vowed to seek reconsideration and then appeal.
- President Trump posted extended broadsides on Truth Social against Boasberg and called for the judge’s removal from cases involving him and his allies, while also railing against a recent Supreme Court tariff ruling.
- Reporters frame the decision as part of a broader judicial pushback against politically charged investigations, with accounts of stalled probes, grand juries declining to indict, and prosecutors resigning as appeals are anticipated.