President Donald Trump won nothing from his attempt to investigate and intimidate departing Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, Washington insiders said.
The Department of Justice is ditching its overblown criminal probe into overspending on renovations to Federal Reserve buildings. Punchbowl News reported that Trump didn’t get anything out of his attack on Powell, who has long resisted Trump’s call to lower interest rates to bail out a struggling economy.
“The DOJ’s exercise here resulted in zero political upside for Trump — just a singular, stinging failure,” the Friday article reads. “Having a new Fed chair will be a nice perk, but the investigation was nothing but a headache for anyone involved.”
U.S. Attorney General Jeanine Pirro announced that “I have directed my office to close our investigation” into Powell, adding that her office “has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable.” Powell’s term ends on May 15.
The move backfired, the article argued, as Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) came out in opposition to Kevin Warsh, Trump’s pick to replace the Fed chairman, because of the probe. Tillis’ standoff as proof that the Senate “still has leverage over the White House,” Punchbowl reports wrote.
Pirro said in a statement that the DOJ “will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-MA) acknowledged the threat and said in a statement that, “Anyone who believes Donald Trump’s corrupt scheme to take over the Fed is over is fooling themselves,” Warren said in a statement.
Punchbowl concluded, “If there’s a lesson for the Senate here, it’s this: The chamber still has leverage over the White House.”
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