Financial leaders from Switzerland, Brazil, Korea, the United Kingdom, and more are rallying around U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after the Department of Justice served him with a grand jury subpoena.

“We stand in full solidarity with the Federal Reserve System and its Chair Jerome H. Powell. The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve. It is therefore critical to preserve that independence, with full respect for the rule of law and democratic accountability,” the letter read. It was signed by presidents and governors of central banks in the U.K., Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Canada, Korea, and Brazil.

President Trump has long attempted to pressure Powell’s decisions on interest rates, and the DOJ over the weekend announced a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve chair. It’s a thinly veiled attack on Powell, so that Trump can have minimal resistance to whatever Federal Reserve nominations he wants to make and whatever economic numbers he wants (or doesn’t want) to put out.

“JUST OUT: Great (LOW!) Inflation numbers for the USA. That means that Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should cut interest rates, MEANINGFULLY!!!” Trump claimed Tuesday morning on Truth Social. “If he doesn’t he will just continue to be, ‘TOO LATE!’ ALSO OUT, GREAT GROWTH NUMBERS. Thank you MISTER TARIFF! President DJT.”

The international alarm this has caused only underscores the real dangers of a completely partisan Federal Reserve, and is perhaps the most dramatic development in Trump’s long mission to destroy any regulatory independence the Fed still has.

“Chair Powell has served with integrity, focused on his mandate and an unwavering commitment to the public interest,” the letter from the international central bankers concluded. “To us, he is a respected colleague who is held in the highest regard by all who have worked with him.”

Former special counsel Jack Smith is going to get the chance to testify to Congress in the full view of the public.

On January 22, Smith will testify before the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, said its chair, Representative Jim Jordan, on Monday. In December, Smith testified for eight hours in a closed-door hearing before the committee.

Smith, who was appointed to oversee Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has long sought to testify in a public hearing, but was rebuffed by Republicans in favor of one behind closed doors. In that hearing, Smith said that he stood by his prosecution of Trump.

“If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or Democrat,” Smith said in his opening statement.

In next week’s public hearing, Republicans will likely try to attack Smith’s credibility and accuse him of a political witch hunt against the president, while Democrats will hope to highlight the evidence that Smith collected against Trump and his inner circle. Smith has said that he wants to share the results of his election investigation but was prohibited by the Department of Justice, which is keeping parts of the case sealed.

The hearing will be a good chance for Smith to share information that he hasn’t before directly to the American people, which would not be received well by Republicans or by Trump. They won’t be able to control what the seasoned prosecutor says to the live TV cameras, reporters, and the public, and it could very well be damaging to the White House.

President Donald Trump says he won’t meet with Iranian government officials until they stop murdering their own people.

In a post on Truth Social Tuesday, Trump urged the millions of protesters who have taken to the streets to oppose the Islamic Republic to “KEEP PROTESTING—TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS.”

“Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price,” Trump wrote. “I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY!”

Trump was scheduled to discuss options to support protesters and weaken the regime in Iran Tuesday morning, and had previously indicated a preference toward conducting a military strike, a White House official with direct knowledge told

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