Lawfare for Dummies, Monetary Edition - WSJ Editorial
In the annals of political lawfare there’s dumb, and then there’s the criminal subpoena federal prosecutors delivered Friday to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. President Trump would do himself and the country a big favor by firing those responsible for this fiasco.
The subpoena relates to testimony Mr. Powell gave to Congress in June concerning renovations to the Fed’s office buildings in Washington, D.C. Those renovations raised a brief ruckus over the summer after Administration officials such as Russ Vought of the Office of Management and Budget accused the Fed of running over budget on a needlessly grandiose project.
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Asked at that meeting if the project is “a fireable offense for Jerome Powell,” Mr. Trump replied, “Look, I would love to see it completed. I don’t want to put that in this category.” Alas, someone forgot to tell the rest of the Administration to let the matter go. Our sources say Bill Pulte of the Federal Housing Finance Agency wrote a report that made its way to Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Ms. Pirro’s office sent the subpoena, though Attorney General Pam Bondi no doubt signed off. Presumably the gambit is to catch Mr. Powell for lying to Congress regarding the office renovations or scrounge for details in search of some other so far undetected offense.
Mr. Trump said this weekend he didn’t know about the subpoena, which would be the first time he hasn’t been involved with DOJ decisions regarding his opponents. He has long signaled his dislike for Mr. Powell. This episode smacks of loyal underlings trying to curry favor with the President by doing what they think he would want.
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This ploy may backfire on Mr. Trump’s plans for the Fed. Mr. Powell’s term as chairman ends in May, but his seat on the Board of Governors doesn’t expire until 2028. He issued a defiant statement about the subpoena Sunday night, describing it as a pretextual political assault on the Fed. Mr. Powell isn’t required to leave the Fed when his chairmanship ends, and Mr. Powell may now feel he needs to stay to avoid the appearance that the White House can bully Fed officials. That would deny Mr. Trump a second appointment to the Fed board.
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https://www.wsj.com/opinion/jerome-powell-subpoena-federal-reserve-department-of-justice-donald-trump-bill-pulte-jeanine-pirro-b6913599?st=AtUzC9&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
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