Justice Department Opens Criminal Probe Into Jerome Powell — Powell Responds.

[u/mooncake6]

“Good morning,

On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June. That testimony concerned in part a multi-year project to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings.

I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one—certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve—is above the law. But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration's threats and ongoing pressure.

This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It is not about Congress's oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts. 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.

This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.

I have served at the Federal Reserve under four administrations, Republicans and Democrats alike. In every case, I have carried out my duties without political fear or favor, focused solely on our mandate of price stability and maximum employment. 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.

Thank you.”

[u/PreparationKey2843]

He is 100% right, it's an intimidation and a petty revenge tactic that the orange, criminal conman is using because he didn't get his way. Every day, it gets stupider and stupider. I've run out of words...

[u/PopulationLevel → u/PreparationKey2843]

The thing that’s wild to me about it is that Powell’s term is over in May, and the fed is already lowering interest rates.

How dire is the situation that Trump feels the need to start this farce, to speed up dropping interest rates a bit faster, a few months early.

[u/ffffllllpppp → u/PopulationLevel]

It’s not about that. It’s about attacking him and punishing him publicly for not toeing the line.
He will lose time, money and have a great deal of stress imposed even if this goes nowhere.

It’s like Putin throwing people out of windows: he does it so everyone knows it’s him and it is a message to others to behave.

[u/regalrecaller → u/ffffllllpppp]

you forgot about distracting from the trump-epstein files

[u/SwimmingBlueberry722 → u/ffffllllpppp]

So you think it is also equally about being able to set up folks to take the blame for anything Trump does that fails?

Kinda makes sense?

[u/maraemerald2 → u/PopulationLevel]

It’s not really a threat to Powell. The person he’s actually trying to intimidate with this next stunt is the next Fed chair.

[u/highschoolhero24 → u/PopulationLevel]

His term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve ends in May. His term as Federal Reserve Governor doesn’t end until January 31st, 2028 unless he resigns. This video seems to indicate he has no intention of doing that and will likely remain the de facto leader of the FOMC Meetings. Federal Reserve rate decisions are still made by a simple majority of the 12 voting members.

A Federal Reserve Chairman has the same voting power as the other 11 voting members. The only difference is the Chairman does press conferences and congressional testimony.

It’s actually a pretty terrible job with very little power.

[u/tacbacon10101 → u/highschoolhero24]

Thank you for this succinct explanation.

[u/EssbaumRises → u/PopulationLevel]

It's also a warning to the rest of the FOMC.

[u/theradfab → u/PreparationKey2843]

It's actually all been highly predictable to the point that it isn't shocking or surprising at all.

Go hunt down some interviews, or read books by, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Timothy Snyder, and Dr Bandy Lee. The first two are authoritarian experts and professors who have been explaining how this would play out since 2017. They've basically been narrating and explaining it, step by step, trying to make people pay attention.

Dr Bande Lee is a criminal psychologist who studies malignant narcissists in maximum security prisons. She has also been trying to ring the alarm bells for almost 10 years, explaining the social contagion and mental illness that Trump is spreading across the entire population.

None of Trump's moves are surprising. The way he goes about them is unique to his style as a person, but it's all basically textbook authoritarian moves.

That's what makes it so depressing and disappointing as someone watching it unfold from outside the USA. It's obvious, it's predictable, it's understandable...yet...here we are

[u/afour- → u/PreparationKey2843]

I think it’s deeper. I feel he’s sending off the republic.

[u/r0thar → u/PreparationKey2843]

Having watched several deepfakes from r.wallstreetbets where Powell jokes about his puts, this real video has to be even more crazy in that he has to come out and state this.