Overview
- The Justice Department sent a subpoena to the Federal Reserve on Jan. 9 tied to the headquarters renovation and related testimony, according to officials.
- Washington U.S. Attorney Piro said repeated inquiries to the Fed went unanswered, prompting the move to legal process.
- Powell disclosed in a Jan. 11 video that he is a subject of the investigation and called the step unprecedented in the context of pressure from the administration.
- The White House denied that President Trump directed the probe, as a Wall Street Journal report described him scolding prosecutors days earlier for not pursuing his “priority targets.”
- Trump told Reuters he would “watch and see,” leaving future action toward Powell unresolved and dismissing criticism from lawmakers and concerns about central-bank independence.