Trump and the law

Roll Call -   The Trump administration vowed Friday to appeal a ruling from a federal judge that an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was likely politically motivated and blocked a grand jury subpoena.

 Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, made the announcement at a news conference as the ruling was unsealed Friday. Her office has reportedly been investigating Powell’s 2025 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee about cost overruns on renovations to the Federal Reserve’s building.

 Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the decision on Wednesday and said he would unseal it Friday. The judge cited months of statements by President Donald Trump pressuring Powell to make decisions to lower interest rates and criticizing Powell.

 Boasberg also said Pirro appeared to act at Trump’s direction to initiate the investigation. “A mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning,” Boasberg wrote.

 “On the other side of the scale, the Government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual,” Boasberg wrote.