March 13 (UPI) -- A federal judge this week quashed subpoenas the Department of Justice had issued to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell because they were issued to pressure him into adjusting interest rates.
Judge James Boasberg redressed the DOJ for the subpoenas, saying that their purpose had nothing to do with a probe about renovations at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C.
The DOJ in January launched a criminal investigation into Powell's testimony last year about the renovations, which Powell at the time said were "pretexts" to punish him and the Fed after they did not set interest rates at levels demanded by President Donald Trump.
"The Government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual," Boasberg wrote in the opinion.
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