This evening, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell released a video statement revealing that Trump’s Department of Justice issued grand jury subpoenas to the Federal Reserve “threatening a criminal indictment” related to his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee over the summer. In the message, Chair Powell said he would refuse to be intimidated and would “stand firm in the face of threats.” In response, Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“Tonight, Jerome Powell called out the Trump administration in a bold defense of the rule of law. The Federal Reserve decisions should not be subject to intimidation and bullying by Trump loyalist prosecutors.The Department of Justice should serve the rule of law, not the vindictive instincts of an authoritarian president. And it should never misuse its criminal enforcement powers to pursue pretextual prosecutions against the president’s political opponents or those who show a modicum of independence.”