Judge Rejects Subpoenas of Fed Board in Powell Case

<p>The people, companies and trends shaping the global economy.<br />Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: <a href="http://bit.ly/3vTiACF">http://bit.ly/3vTiACF</a>.<br /><br />A federal judge rejected as improper Justice Department subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve Board seeking records relating to its renovations of its headquarters and Chair Jerome Powell&rsquo;s comments to Congress about the project.<br /><br />US District Judge James Boasberg said the government had advanced no evidence to justify the subpoenas and said they clearly reflected an &ldquo;improper motive&rdquo; of retaliating against Powell over policy differences. Jeanine Pirro, who leads the US Attorney&rsquo;s Office for the District of Columbia, called the ruling wrong and said they would appeal the decision.<br />The White House didn&rsquo;t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Fed declined to comment.<br /><br />&ldquo;A mountain of evidence suggests that the government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning,&rdquo; Boasberg said. &ldquo;On the other side of the scale, the government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the court can only conclude that they are pretextual.&rdquo;<br /><br />DOJ issued subpoenas to the Fed in January threatening a criminal indictment, Powell said at the time. The subpoenas are related to the Fed&rsquo;s ongoing $2.5 billion renovation of its headquarters in Washington and testimony Powell provided about the construction before the Senate Banking panel last year.<br /><br />Powell, in an unusually forceful video response to the subpoenas, characterized the investigation as motivated by the Fed refusing to set interest rates according to the preferences of President Donald Trump.<br /><br />Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, has been nominated by Trump to replace Powell when the latter&rsquo;s term as chair ends in May. North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, has vowed to block any Fed nominations as long as the DOJ investigation of Powell remains unresolved. Tillis reiterated that commitment this week.<br /><br />Today's show features:</p> <ul> <li>Elliot Stein, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Litigation Analyst</li> <li>Mike Collins, PGIM Fixed Income Managing Director &amp; Executive Portfolio Advisor</li> <li>Oleksandr Komarov, Kyivstar CEO</li> <li>Katrina Manson, Bloomberg News Reporter covering Tech and National Security</li> </ul><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>