TheDepartment of Justiceon Friday dropped its criminal investigation ofFederal ReserveChairJerome Powell, removing a major hurdle to the Senate confirming PresidentDonald Trump's nomination ofKevin Warshto replace him.
Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, announced the decision to abandon the Powell probe ina post on X, which came three days after Warsh testified before the Senate Banking Committee on his nomination.
Pirro said the Federal Reserve's inspector general would investigate cost overruns in themulti-billion-dollar renovation of the central bank's headquarters in Washington. She had claimed the renovation was her reason for investigating Powell.
He and others had said that the real reason for Pirro's probe was to pressure Powell and the Fed to lower interest rates as Trump wanted.
Pirro had said just Wednesday that she was committed to continuing the probe, which had been crippled by a federal judge's ruling quashing subpoenas her office issued to the Fed.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican andBanking Committeemember, had put an effective hold on the full Senate voting on Warsh's nomination unless the criminal investigation ended.
"The IG has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to American taxpayers," Pirro said in her X post on Friday.
"I expect a comprehensive report in short order and am confident the outcome will assist in resolving, once and for all, the questions that led this office to issue subpoenas," she said.
"Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry," Pirro said.
"Note well, however, that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so."
Source: Drudge Report
