DOJ Opens Criminal Investigation into Fed Chair Powell

Jerome Powell suggests the probe is about interest rates—not his testimony or renovation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington on Oct. 29, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank was served with grand jury subpoenas by the Department of Justice on Jan. 9.

In a statement late Jan. 11, Powell confirmed that officials threatened a criminal indictment over his Senate Banking Committee testimony in June 2025. That testimony, Powell noted, “concerned in part a multi-year project to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings.”