Judge won't reconsider decision blocking grand jury subpoenas of Fed, Jerome Powell |
Judge won’t reconsider decision blocking grand jury subpoenas of Fed, Jerome Powell
A federal judge on Friday said he won’t reconsider his decision blocking Justice Department subpoenas of the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, the chief judge of Washington’s federal trial court, said the government “did not come close” to persuading him to reconsider his ruling that quashed two subpoenas served on the Fed’s board of governors seeking records from a $2.5 billion renovation project on which Powell testified before Congress.
Last month, the judge pinned his decision on “abundant evidence” that the subpoenas were part of a pressure campaign against Powell, who has frequently been the target of President Trump’s ire.
“The subpoena power ‘is not unlimited’ and may not be abused,” Boasberg wrote in a six-page ruling.
The Justice Department began investigating the Federal Reserve’s renovation of its headquarters earlier this year, following Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June about a critical need for updates to the central bank’s Marriner S. Eccles and Federal Reserve Board East buildings. The project was initially estimated to cost $1.9 billion but grew to $2.5 billion after changes to design, higher costs and other “unforeseen conditions.”
Boasberg’s decision to block the subpoenas caused Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, to hold a press conference where she railed against the “activist judge” for having “neutered” the grand jury’s ability to investigate the Fed and Powell.
He explained in his Friday ruling that the legal question he faced was whether the subpoena’s “dominant purpose” was to pursue a legitimate investigation because the facts suggested wrongdoing or to pressure Powell into lowering interest rates or resigning.
Trump attacked Powell and other members of the Fed’s board for months for refusing to lower interest rates before his Justice Department began investigating.
Boasberg said that to resolve the question, the court had to probe the evidence available to back up the government’s assertions.
“The Government has missed this distinction,” the judge wrote. “It makes arguments and cites cases about its broad subpoena power and insists that it does not need evidence, but it ignores the fact that its total lack of a good-faith basis to suspect a crime is relevant to the second, separate question of the subpoenas’ true purpose.”
The Hill requested comment from Pirro’s office.
The Justice Department’s probe of the Fed is one of two major legal cases looming over the central bank.
The Supreme Court is weighing whether Trump had the authority to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Fed’s board of governors, despite long-standing legal protections for the board members. A decision is expected by summer.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
More Court Battles News
GOP rep on Hegseth firing Army chief of staff: ‘I will look into it ...
One crew member rescued after F-15 shot down over Iran
Live updates: US rescues one F-15 crew member after Iran downs jet, searches ...
5 things to know about Trump’s 2027 defense budget proposal
Gorsuch asks Sauer if Native Americans are birthright citizens
Recall impacts over 3.1 million eye drop products distributed nationwide: FDA
McConnell joins Democrats to defend US NATO membership
Moulton: Trump ‘got rid’ of Bondi 12 days before Epstein deposition
DOJ concludes presidential records requirement unconstitutional
Blanche: Epstein files ‘should not be a part of anything going forward’ at ...
Watchdog group calls for federal investigation into Apache flyby at Kid ...
Graham Platner’s political outsider vibe gains steam in Maine among Democrats
Rogan, Theo Von slam Trump’s move to attack Iran
Trump seeks $1.5 trillion for defense spending in 2027 budget request
Jeffries: ‘What Donald Trump has done is decimate the bank accounts of the ...
House Republicans seek to fund ICE before passing Senate DHS bill, complicating ...
Hegseth lifts ban on service members carrying personal firearms on base
Burchett on aliens: ‘You’d be up at night’ if ‘the things that I’ve ...