On Sunday, the New York Times reported that federal prosecutors had opened an investigation into Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, a first-term appointee of President Donald Trump who has become a central target of his ire because of his reluctance to cut interest rates. The inquiry is reportedly centered around Powell’s congressional testimony on the bank’s renovation of its headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is in keeping with the Trump administration’s pattern of finding a pretext to investigate his political foes, from James Comey to Letitia James.

Powell took the unprecedented step of responding publicly to the news, and the inquiry sparked criticism from many Democrats and even some Republicans. Here are the most notable reactions.

Powell has taken pains not to engage directly with President Trump’s many personal insults directed at him in recent months. But on Sunday, Powell forcefully defended himself in a startling direct-to-camera statement, stating clearly that the investigation had nothing to do with the bank’s renovation project. “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” he said.

Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: https://t.co/5dfrkByGyX pic.twitter.com/O4ecNaYaGH

Powell also said that he would be staying in his role despite the inquiry. “Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats. I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do with integrity and a commitment to serving the American people,” he said. The Wall Street Journal reports that Powell had retained Williams & Connolly, a Washington D.C.-based law firm, as outside counsel prior to news of the investigation breaking.

Every living former chairman of the Federal Reserve and several former U.S. Treasury secretaries signed on to a joint statement that condemned the Justice Department’s investigation against Powell as an attack on the bank’s independence. Among the signatories are former Federal Reserve chairs Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan as well as former Treasury secretaries Janet Yellen, Timothy Geithner, and Jacob Lew.

The Federal Reserve’s independence and the public’s perception of that independence are critical for economic performance, including achieving the goals Congress has set for the Federal Reserve of stable prices, maximum employment, and moderate long-term interest rates. The reported criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine that independence. This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly. It has no place in the United States whose greatest strength is the rule of law, which is at the foundation of our economic success.

Yellen went further in her own comments to CNBC, saying she finds the investigation “extremely chilling for Fed independence.”

“Knowing Powell as well as I do, the odds that he would have lied are zero, so I do believe they’re going after him because they want his seat and want him gone,” she said.

In an interview with NBC News, Trump suggested that he was........

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