U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro indicated Sunday that she might revive the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, contingent on what the central bank's inspector general uncovers in a parallel review.
Last month, Pirro formally closed her office's probe into Powell's role in the Fed's renovation project and referred the matter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz. The move came after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg blocked Justice Department subpoenas targeting Powell and the Fed board of governors in March.
Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, Pirro explained that the judicial roadblock left her with no direct avenue to gather evidence. “The only way to get evidence, the only way to find out what happened,” she told host Jake Tapper, “is through the inspector general investigation.”
Pirro said she urged Horowitz to move quickly. “I said, ‘I would like this in short order. You have the ability to talk to witnesses. I have been foreclosed from doing that,’” she recounted. “And we continue to litigate the issue. We’re going to make a motion to vacate the order of Judge Boasberg, because we think it’s extremely important for us as prosecutors, the precedent that it sets to prevent us from going into a grand jury.”
The decision to close the DOJ probe cleared a political logjam. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina had refused to support Kevin Warsh, President Trump's nominee to succeed Powell as Fed chair, while the investigation was active. But after Pirro shut it down, Tillis joined his 12 GOP colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee to advance Warsh in a 13-11 party-line vote earlier this week.
Appearing on the same program after Pirro, Tillis downplayed the inspector general inquiry. “At the end of the day, there was no crime committed,” he said. “And prosecutors that I have spoken with all agree.” He called Horowitz's probe a “nice way of just ramping down” the matter.
Yet Pirro refused to rule out reopening her investigation. “It depends on what he finds,” she said. Drawing on her experience as a district attorney, she added: “Child Protective Services would come in and say we found nothing. It's often that I could go in and say, ‘You found nothing, but I found a crime.’ So I want to see those statements. I want to see what's there. If there's something there, great. And if there isn't, I will go home.”
The ongoing uncertainty has implications beyond the Warsh nomination. Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has blasted the original DOJ probe as an assault on Fed independence, while Powell has indicated he plans to remain on the Fed board even after his chair term ends. The inspector general's findings could shape the final chapter of a controversy that has entangled the central bank in partisan conflict.
