Fed Chairman Duped Into Discussing U.S. Interest Rate Policy by Russian Pranksters
Instead of the Ukrainian president, Jerome Powell was speaking to two Russian supporters of President Putin.
The chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, was duped into discussing American interest rate policies by a pair of Russian comedians pretending to be President Zelensky, according to video that surfaced overnight and reports in the Russian press Thursday.
In a heavily edited video of the phone call, which reportedly took place in January, Mr. Powell — appearing in what looks to be a Zoom call with the background masked — is pressed on the Fed’s fight against inflation and asked how far the central bank is willing to go to tame the rising prices.
“We’ve raised rates quite a lot and the market is already pricing in two more quarter-percentage-point rate hikes,” Mr. Powell says. “We’ll look around after we make those two and we’ll say, ‘Should we do any more?’ And then the question will be how long do we keep rates at this level and I think we will keep them there for quite some time.”
A spokesman for the Federal Reserve confirmed to Bloomberg, which first reported the incident, that the recorded conversation actually occurred. Mr. Powell was led to believe he was speaking to Mr. Zelensky about the central bank’s support for the Ukrainian people and did not disclose any sensitive or confidential information, the spokesman said. Indeed, in the excerpts released, Mr. Powell’s comments are largely in line with what he has said publicly in the past few months.
Instead of the Ukrainian president, Mr. Powell was speaking to two Russian supporters of President Putin, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, also known as Vovan and Lexus. The two men have also tricked other world leaders and celebrities — among them the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, Congressman Adam Schiff, and singer Elton John — into accepting similar calls.
The video was posted to the Russian YouTube knockoff, Rutube, and featured prominently in several Russian broadcasts on Thursday. The comedians also posted parts of the heavily edited video to their social media channels and featured it on a show they produce. The pair was kicked off YouTube in March 2022.
