Jeanine Pirro Furiously Backpedals After Jerome Powell Probe Gets GOP Backlash

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement that the Justice Department was “threatening a criminal indictment” related to his testimony before the Senate in June about the renovation of the Fed’s office buildings. The cost of renovating the Federal Reserve’s headquarters in Washington increased from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion, Bloomberg reports.

“The word ‘indictment’ has come out of Mr. Powell’s mouth, no one else’s.” Pirro continued on X. “None of this would have happened if they had just responded to our outreach.”

“This office makes decisions based on the merits, nothing more and nothing less,” Pirro concluded. “We agree with the chairman of the Federal Reserve that no one is above the law, and that is why we expect his full cooperation.”

Powell said in his statement Sunday that he is not “above the law” and had made “every effort to keep” Congress informed about the renovation project. But he also made it clear that he thinks the DOJ’s supposed reasons for going after his agency are, well, trumped up.

For months, President Donald Trump has been publicly bullying Powell to lower interest rates ahead of the midterm elections.

“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,” Powell said.

Several Republican lawmakers have come out in defense of Powell. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said it’s “clear” that the investigation is “nothing more than an attempt at coercion” by the White House.

“If the Department of Justice believes an investigation into Chair Powell is warranted based on project cost overruns — which are not unusual — then Congress needs to investigate the Department of Justice,” Murkowski said. “The stakes are too high to look the other way: if the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer.”

Democrats aren’t thrilled about the whole kerfuffle, either.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said the probe is just another example of Trump “abusing the law like a wannabe dictator so the Fed serves him and his billionaire friends.”