US Attorney Pirro says Fed IG's findings will dictate future of her Powell probe

Source: Reuters

May 3, 2026 11:37 AM EDT Updated 5 hours ago


May 3 (Reuters) - The prosecutor who dropped the criminal investigation launched by President Donald ​Trump's administration into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Sunday if a Fed internal watchdog probe into cost ‌overruns in the central bank's headquarters renovations finds no wrongdoing that would end the matter.

Jeanine Pirro, the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney in Washington, launched the criminal investigation into Powell in January and dropped it last month after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg blocked the Justice Department's subpoenas issued in the inquiry. Pirro, speaking on CNN's "State of the ​Union" program on Sunday, said of the Fed Office of Inspector General's examination of the renovations in Washington: "If there's something ​there, great - and if there isn't, I'll go home."

Powell, a frequent target of Trump's ire, had denounced ⁠the criminal investigation as a threat to the Fed's independence. Boasberg concluded that prosecutors had improperly issued the subpoenas, saying a "mountain of evidence" ​suggested that the investigation - as Powell has argued - was intended to pressure him to rapidly lower interest rates or resign as chair.

When she ​dropped the criminal probe, Pirro said she instead asked the Inspector General to examine the cost overruns. The Inspector General had already been examining the project after Powell requested a review last year. "The only way to find out what happened is through the Inspector General," Pirro said.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-attorney-pirro-says-fed-igs-findings-will-dictate-future-her-powell-probe-2026-05-03/