DOJ subpoenas the Federal Reserve, threatening criminal indictment, says Jerome Powell

"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," Powell said. "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions - or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."

"Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Sunday the Department of Justice has served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened it with a criminal indictment over his testimony this summer about the Fed's building renovations. The move represents an unprecedented escalation in President Donald Trump's battle with the Fed, an independent agency he has repeatedly attacked for not cutting its key interest rate as sharply as he prefers."

"The subpoenas relate to Powell's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June, the Fed chair said, regarding the Fed's $2.5 billion renovation of two office buildings, a project that Trump has criticized as excessive. Powell on Sunday cast off what has up to this point been a restrained approach to Trump's criticisms and personal insults, which he has mostly ignored."

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Department of Justice served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened a criminal indictment over his June testimony about the Fed's building renovations. The subpoenas concern the Fed's $2.5 billion renovation of two office buildings, a project criticized by President Donald Trump as excessive. The move represents an unprecedented escalation in the President's battle with the independent Fed and could rattle financial markets and eventually raise borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans. Powell issued a video statement calling the threat of criminal charges a pretext to undermine the Fed's independence and its evidence-based rate decisions. The Fed previously dialed back policies opposed by the administration, including efforts to consider climate change in banking oversight.

Read at Fast Company