A federal judge 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 unsealed on Friday showed.
Judge James Boasberg said evidence showed Pirro was motivated to investigate Powell because of a desire to get the Fed chief to bow to President Donald Trump’s will and cut interest rates quickly and broadly.
Pirro’s investigation purportedly is focused on the Fed’s multi-billion-dollar renovation of its headquarters in Washington, and on Powell’s testimony to the Senate Banking Committee about that project.
“Did prosecutors issue those subpoenas for a proper purpose? The Court finds that they did not,” Boasberg wrote in the decision in U.S. District Court in D.C., which was dated Wednesday, but unsealed on Friday.
“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 blasted Boasberg’s ruling at a news conference Friday, calling it “outrageous.”
“Jerome Powell is now bathed in immunity,” she fumed.
“This is wrong, and it is without legal authority,” Pirro said.
“This outrageous decision will be appealed by the Department of Justice,” she said.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has vowed to continue a blockage of Trump’s nominee to replace Powell, Kevin Warsh, as chair 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.
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
Tillis, in a statement on the social media site X on Friday, 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.
CNBC has requested comment from the Federal Reserve.
— CNBC’s Eamon Javers and Jeff Cox contributed to this article
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