SenatorsElizabeth WarrenandDick Durbin, the rankingDemocratson the Senate banking and judiciary committees, wrote to Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host serving as US attorney for the District of Columbia, demanding that she explain her threat that she could reopen a criminal investigation into Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, and asking whether Fed governor Lisa Cook is still under investigation.
Both Powell and Cook have been identified byDonald Trumpas enemies he wants to force out of the central bank so he can replace them with appointees who might be more compliant with his desire to cut interest rates despite the risk of inflation.
“In recent months, your office has been engaged in a pretextual investigation into Chair Powell,” Warren and Durbin wrote intheir letterto Pirro. “Though nominally an examination of his congressional testimony about the Federal Reserve’s renovation of two Washington, D.C. office buildings, the investigation was, in reality, driven by President Trump’s displeasure that Chair Powell had not voted to lower interest rates at his request”.
“Earlier today, you promised a temporary pause to the investigation. Specifically, you announced, ‘This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the (Fed’s) building costs overruns … I expect a comprehensive report in short order … Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry.’ Your announcement also contained a stark warning that you were prepared to reopen the criminal probe at any moment: ‘Note well, however, that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.’”
“These probes should be closed – and should stay closed, with a clear statement that there is no basis for reopening them,” the senators wrote. “Instead, your announcement leaves the door wide open for you to relaunch the criminal probe against Chair Powell – or future baseless investigations into Powell or other Fed Governors and a future Fed Chair – should it once again become politically expedient for you to do so.”
The senators requested written responses to a series of questions about the two investigastions, and about Trump’s role in them, by Monday.
This concludes our live coverage of the secondTrump administrationfor the day. Here’s the latest:
The US Department of Justice ended its criminal investigation of Federal Reserve chairmanJerome Powell, which was widely seen as politically motivated revenge for his refusal to lower interest rates asDonald Trumpwants. SenatorThom Tillishadthreatened to withhold his deciding voteto confirm the president’s nominee,Kevin Warsh, as Powell’s successor unless the investigation of Powell ended.
SenatorsElizabeth WarrenandDick Durbin, wrote to Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host serving as US attorney for the District of Columbia, demanding that she explain her threat that she could later reopen the investigation into Powell, and asking whether Fed governorLisa Cookis still under investigation. The senators also asked what role Trump had played in the investigations.
The justice department also announced that it is taking steps to “strengthen the federal death penalty”, including by bringing back firing squads.
En route to his beach resort, Trump engaged in a social media posting spree, mixing racist attacks onHakeem JeffriesandCandace Owenswith six posts about construction projects he has ordered to put his own stamp on the nation’s capital.
A strategist for billionaire DemocratTom Steyer, who has spent $120m of his fortune in his campaign to be the next governor of California, drew attention on Friday to the fact that corporate interests are spending big to try to defeat him.
US Southern Command said ina press releaseissued minutes ago that it has killed two suspected drug smugglers in a strike on a small boat in the Eastern Pacific on Friday.
The statement was accompanied by video of a massive explosion striking the boat.
Since the first strikes last September, the Pentagon has now taken responsibility for killing183 suspects in 54 attacks, which are considered extrajudicial killings by legal experts.
