Pirro Says She Won’t End Federal Reserve Probe: ‘I Am Going Forward’

Republicans hoping for an off-ramp for the investigation into the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, do not appear to have a receptive audience with the United States attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro.The criminal investigation is a roadblock to securing approval for the nomination of Kevin Warsh to head the central bank, but Ms. Pirro says she will not back down from an investigation into cost overruns connected to a years-long building renovation project.“This investigation continues,” Ms. Pirro told reporters on Wednesday. “I am going forward,” she added.A key Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Senator Thom Tillis, has vowed to block Mr. Warsh’s confirmation until the criminal investigation into Mr. Powell ends. He says there is no indication that anything criminal was involved in the cost overruns.“If we put everyone in prison in federal government that had a budget go over, we’d have to reserve an area roughly the size of Texas for a penal colony because of the way government projects work,” Mr. Tillis said at Mr. Warsh’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday.Some Republicans have floated the idea that the Banking Committee could carry out its own investigation in lieu of the Justice Department probe, but Ms. Pirro is pushing back on that idea.“I am in the legal lane, There are others who are in the political lane. I don’t intersect those two lanes. I am going forward,” Ms. Pirro said.The investigation is already facing legal setbacks. The chief judge of the United States District Court for D.C., James Boasberg has dismissed subpoenas tied to the investigation, but Ms. Pirro is appealing.Ms. Pirro’s office says that Judge Boasberg’s initial motion to quash the subpoenas used “an incorrect legal standard” and overlooked facts in the case.“The idea that a judge can stand at the door of a grand jury and tell a prosecutor you’re not allowed to go in when the United States Supreme Court has said you can go into a grand jury based on rumors and suspicion is an order that we think must be appealed,” Ms. Pirro said. “And we are continuing in this investigation.”In another sign that the investigation is not winding down, prosecutors from Ms. Pirro’s office sought access to the Fed’s building site last week. They were turned away and told they needed prior authorization to enter.Mr. Powell says he has “no intention” of leaving the Fed as long as the probe continues. His term as chairman is set to expire on May 15 but his term as a Fed governor lasts until January 2028. Outgoing Fed chairmen have traditionally resigned from the board when their terms as chairman have ended.Mr. Trump said last week that he’ll fire Mr. Powell if he doesn’t leave when his term as chairman ends. That could set off a new court battle.The Banking Committee’s chairman, Senator Tim Scott, has not set a date for a vote on Mr. Warsh’s nomination but time is running out to confirm him before May 15.

Pirro Says She Won’t End Federal Reserve Probe: ‘I Am Going Forward’

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