President Donald Trump's Federal Housing Finance Agency director resorted to a bizarre stunt to persuade the president to go all in on a criminal investigation of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, Politico reported on Monday.
"Pulte, who spent months last year lambasting Powell on social media and on television, recently pitched Trump on ousting Powell, going so far as to bring 'wanted' posters of the Fed chief along with him, according to three of the people familiar," said the report. "A fourth person familiar said the White House is unhappy that the story about Pulte being the instigator got out and blame him for the leak." That person told Politico, “It undercuts the president’s comments that he knew nothing about the [Justice Department] plans.”
Pulte has denied this story, saying any probe of Powell is "outside my purview" and the role of the DOJ.
Powell is reportedly under investigation for allegations laid out by Pulte that he deceived Congress about the true cost and details of a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed headquarters in Washington, D.C. Powell has denied this allegation, which follows a number of efforts by Pulte to dig up mortgage fraud allegations on other critics of the Trump administration.
Pulte, who has often been called a "mini-Trump" or the president's "attack dog," has faced internal investigation for misusing his office to target political enemies; those investigators were later kicked out of the office, allegedly for violating Trump's anti-diversity policies.
In response to the criminal investigation, Powell took the highly unusual step of publicly accusing the administration of trying to intimidate the Fed into surrendering its independence and following Trump's demands for lower interest rates.
Even a number of lawmakers in Trump's own party are furious over the attack on the Fed. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has threatened to block any new Fed nominees until the Powell probe is resolved, and one unnamed House GOP lawmaker lamented to NBC News, “It’s like maybe we should lose the majority so the WH and leadership stop making stupid decisions. Our leadership and admin just keep doubling down on stupid.”