US judge nixes two subpoenas against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell
Al Jazeera
Judge James Boasberg ruled US prosecutors under Trump produced ‘essentially zero evidence’ to justify the subpoenas.
In a fiery, 27-page decision, a United States judge has granted a motion to quash two subpoenas related to an investigation into Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank.
On Friday, Judge James Boasberg of the US court for the District of Columbia concluded that the subpoenas has been issued for an “improper purpose”: to harass Powell into compliance.
Powell, Boasberg explained, had been the target of a months-long campaign under President Donald Trump to force the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates rapidly and dramatically.
Trump has repeatedly called for Powell to step down as part of that campaign. Powell’s tenure as head of the Federal Reserve Board is set to expire in May.
“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, in a decision that cites numerous public statements from the president.
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