Federal Reserve construction workers got an unannounced visit Tuesday—from federal prosecutors. As the New York Times reports, deputies from US Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office showed up at the Fed's $2.5 billion renovation site, a focal point of her investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, only to be turned away for failing to follow safety and access protocols, according to people familiar with the encounter. The Fed's outside counsel, former prosecutor Robert Hur, later blasted the attempted "tour" as an "inappropriate" effort to skirt a judge's ruling that had already found the probe lacked sufficient evidence of potential criminal conduct. "Should you wish to challenge that finding, the courts provide an avenue for you; it is not appropriate for you to try to circumvent it," he wrote in a letter to Pirro seen by the Wall Street Journal.
Pirro, under fire for allegedly targeting a Trump adversary, defended the scrutiny, saying, "Any construction project that has cost overruns of almost 80 percent over the original construction budget deserves some serious review. And these people are in charge of monetary policy in the United States?" The clash comes as the Senate Banking Committee moves ahead with a confirmation hearing for Trump's nominee to succeed Powell, Kevin Warsh—despite a threat from key Republican Sen. Thom Tillis to block Warsh unless the Justice Department drops the investigation.
Federal Judge James Boasberg had earlier ruled that the Powell "subpoenas' dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the president or to resign and make way for a Fed chair who will." Pirro has not appealed that decision. Meanwhile, an appeals court ordered Boasberg on Tuesday to end his contempt investigation of the Trump administration over its failure to comply with an order to turn around planes carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador last year.
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