Judge: 'Zero Evidence' of a Crime by Powell

A federal judge in Washington has dealt a serious setback to the Justice Department's criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. In a ruling unsealed Friday, US District Judge James Boasberg tossed out two subpoenas the DOJ had sent to the Fed, the Wall Street Journal reports. The judge calling the subpoenas improper and said there's "abundant evidence" that their main aim was to pressure Powell to bend to President Trump on lowering interest rates or step aside. The investigation, led by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a Trump ally, has been probing whether Powell misled Congress last summer about a Fed building renovation project.

Powell, who denies wrongdoing, pushed back publicly in January, calling the inquiry a cover for Trump's push to force interest rates down and curb the Fed's independence. The Journal had reported that the central bank was secretly fighting the subpoenas in court, a clash that remained hidden until now because of grand jury secrecy rules. "The Government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime," Boasberg wrote, per the Washington Post.