All posts tagged "Jerome Powell"

The Justice Department has declined to reopen its criminal investigation into former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over cost overruns tied to the central bank's headquarters renovation, dealing a setback to President Trump's long-running effort to see his frequent target prosecuted.

According to The Guardian, a department spokesperson confirmed the decision Friday, though Attorney General Todd Blanche told Bloomberg News, which first reported the news, that he isn't entirely closing the door on further scrutiny of the project's oversight if new evidence of wrongdoing surfaces.

The move follows a Wednesday finding from the Fed's own inspector general, which concluded there were no grounds for a criminal referral and no evidence of administrative misconduct tied to the overruns. Even so, the watchdog's determination that oversight of the project had been lax was enough to reignite Trump's calls for Powell's resignation, continuing a pattern of criticism Trump has directed at Powell across both his presidencies....

The Wall Street Journal's editorial board says a new watchdog report has ended President Donald Trump's criminal pursuit of Jerome Powell.

In an editorial published on Wednesday, the board wrote that the Federal Reserve inspector general found poor management but no criminal conduct in the central bank's headquarters renovation. It also called on the former Fed chair to step down from the board of governors.

Fed Inspector General Michael Horowitz released his report Wednesday. It examined cost overruns on the renovation of the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building and an office complex across the street. The project was budgeted at $1.3 billion. The latest estimate has nearly doubled to $2.4 billion, and the work is running about three years behind schedule....

President Donald Trump demanded former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell resign in a Truth Social tirade over the central bank's renovation.

In a Wednesday Truth Social post, Trump said Powell should be "forced to resign, IMMEDIATELY" from the Fed's board, and that if he doesn't, "he should be sued, at the highest level, by the United States Government, for either corruption or incompetence." Trump also claimed he "could have done a far better Renovation for 25 Million Dollars" and insisted he does not want the building named after him. Trump claimed the report pointed to an "absolutely unheard of" situation Powell created.

The post came after the release of an inspector general report that criticized the board's cost control but found no grounds to believe a violation of criminal law took place. Trump threatened, "I have asked Attorney General Todd Blanche to study the report and make a determination as to what to do."...

President Donald Trump has been losing on multiple fronts and these losses have now taken a "humiliating turn," The New Republic reported in its podcast on Monday.

In a conversation between Zeteo reporter Asawin Suebsaeng and Greg Sargent, staff writer at The New Republic and the host of the podcast The Daily Blast, the two analysts described a number of Trump's failures, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, the Supreme Court striking down his tariff policy and birthright citizenship case, the Justice Department ending its case against his perceived foe Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his redistricting battle going south.

"I never would downplay the severity of the damage that he and his gang are causing and are likely to continue causing, on historic levels, between now and whenever they’re out of office. I’m not downplaying that at all," Suebsaeng said. "Having said that, they are losing more—and in some cases a lot more—than they and their cult would ever publicly admit, or especially President Donald Trump would ever be willing to admit. Otherwise his ego would cave in on itself."...

Eyes are back on the Republican senator who split from Trump's attack on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell after the president said he's not giving up just yet.

"Now the burden shifts back to Thom Tillis to continue opposing Kevin Warsh's confirmation indefinitely," the X account Rogue POTUS staff wrote, "or to cave."

Sen. Tillis, R-NC, broke from Trump's attempt to replace Powell with Kevin Warsh. Despite supporting Warsh's credentials, Tillis said he would refuse to confirm Warsh unless Trump drops his investigation into Powell, as the senior GOP senator didn't want to set a precedent for removing dissenting Fed chairs. ...

President Donald Trump contradicted his Justice Department on the ending of an investigation into outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

"It's not dropped," Trump insisted to reporters on Saturday despite Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, saying on Friday that "I have directed my office to close our investigation" into Powell after pressure from within the GOP. She warned that "I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation."

Trump downplayed the about-face on Pirro's statement, saying "Jeanine, she's fantastic...but I have an obligation to find out" about supposed overspending on renovations of Federal Reserve buildings. ...