Powell vs. Trump: "What's at stake is that the Fed will be run by political intimidation"
The Fed chairman defends himself after the US Attorney's Office opens an investigation against him
BarcelonaFederal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell revealed on Sunday that he faces a federal investigation related to his testimony before Congress last June regarding renovations at the central bank's headquarters. Powell, whom President Donald Trump wants removed from the monetary authority, reacted strongly with a statement saying: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue setting interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether monetary policy will instead be driven by pressure or intimidation."
"On Friday, the Justice Department served the Federal Reserve (Fed) with grand jury subpoenas, threatening criminal charges related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June," Powell announced in his statement, available in video and PDF format.
"The witness was referring in part to a multi-year project to renovate the Fed's historic office buildings," adds the head of the central bank, who departs from the cautious tone he usually adopts in his speeches and denounces being the victim of government "intimidation."
Powell says that both the testimony and the Fed headquarters renovation are "pretexts" and the threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the central bank acting according to its economic assessments "rather than following the preferences of the US president."
Growing tension
Donald Trump has spent months harshly criticizing Powell for not lowering interest rates enough and has advocated that his successor, who is due to take over in May, pursue a monetary policy aligned with his views.
The Fed chairman denounces the investigation that has been opened as an "unprecedented action that should be seen in the broader context of the threats and current pressure from the Trump administration," and reaffirms his commitment to fulfilling his duty "without fear or political favors."
Trump and other senior government officials have criticized the renovation of the Fed headquarters, and last summer Trump complained that the total cost had risen from the already known $2.5 billion, $700 million more than the initial plan, to $3.1 billion, which Powell refuted.
The US president, in his attempts to exert more control over the institution responsible for price stability in the country, He also tried to fire Lisa Cook, one of the governors on trial, accusing her of mortgage fraud.
