Powell publicly denounced the inquiry as punishment for not bowing to the president’s wishes on interest rates
The US Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, as Donald Trump’s White House escalates its campaign against the central bank’s independence.
In a video posted on Sunday, a typically reticent Powell took the extraordinary step of denouncing the investigation as punishment for not setting interest rates in accordance with the US president’s wishes.
This is just the latest development in a long string of White House attacks against the Fed. Here’s what we know about what’s going on.
As chair of the Fed, Powell has been the public face of the central bank since 2018. Trump initially appointed him for a four-year term, and then Biden reappointed him in 2022. His term as chair will end in May.
