Who will stick their neck out for Jerome Powell? So far, it’s slim pickings |
It’s no longer possible to be shocked by the Trump administration’s overreach, including its pursuit of the president’s political enemies.
The latest is Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell – the US equivalent of Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock – who says he is under criminal investigation by Donald Trump’s Department of Justice over evidence he gave to Congress about a major renovation of the Fed’s office buildings.
President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell toured the Fed’s office renovation in July.Credit: AP
Trump loathes Powell for being “too slow” to cut interest rates last year – even though Powell is a Republican, and was, in fact, appointed as Fed chair by Trump during his first term.
In an extraordinary video message announcing that the Fed had been issued with subpoenas to testify before a grand jury, Powell was emphatic: this was not about a building reno. It was blatantly political.
“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates [independently] rather than following the preferences of the president,” he said.
Trump coming after his political foes is nothing new. He tried – and failed, so far – to indict New York Attorney-General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey.
It’s made all the more galling by the fact Powell is on his way out – his term ends in May – and already........