Donald Trump has been on a misguided mission to strip the Federal Reserve of its independence so that he can cut interest rates at will, even though he doesn’t understand that in today’s economy this will increase inflation and raise prices.
Trump has threatened and insulted Jerome Powell since returning to power, but his smear campaign backfired, so the president is using his DOJ to investigate Powell in hopes that he will resign.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
U.S. prosecutors are investigating Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell over his testimony last summer on the central bank’s renovation project, according to administration officials with knowledge of the matter.
The Fed received grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department on Friday threatening criminal charges, the Fed chairman said in a statement.
Powell responded in a video statement saying in part: “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 guided by political pressure or intimidation.”
In previous years this might have been the point where it stopped. However, Republicans are increasingly treating Trump like a lame duck and challenging him.
The resistance comes from the Senate and could hold Trump back for the rest of the year.
Read more below.
