Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee at the Federal Reserve on October 29, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Federal Judge James Boasberg, in a scathing ruling, blocked subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve as part of a criminal investigation of its chair, Jerome Powell, by the prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, a court filing showed Friday.
“Did prosecutors issue those subpoenas for a proper purpose? The Court finds that they did not,” Boasberg wrote.
“There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will,” the judge wrote.
“On the other side of the scale, the Government has offered no evidence whatsoever that Powell committed any crime other than displeasing the President,” Boasberg wrote.
Pirro, who CNBC has learned planned to appeal the ruling, is set to give an update on the probe of Powell on Friday afternoon.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has vowed to continue a blockage of President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Powell, Kevin Warsh, as chair. Tillis has said he will not lift that block until the investigation of Powell is resolved.
Powell has said he learned he was under investigation by Pirro’s office, ostensibly in connection with pricey renovations of the Federal Reserve headquarters, and his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee about that project.
Tillis in a statement on the social media site X said, “This ruling confirms just how weak and frivolous the criminal investigation of Chairman Powell is and it is nothing more than a failed attack on Fed independence.”
“We all know how this is going to end and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment,” Tillis wrote.
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