DOJ’s Partial Reversal on Powell Probe Keeps Fed Drama Alive

A decision by US District Attorney Jeanine Pirro to drop a criminal probe into the Federal Reserve potentially clears a path for President Donald Trump’s nominee to take over the central bank. What it won’t do is secure the current Fed chair’s departure.

Jerome Powell has pledged to remain at the US central bank until the Department of Justice probe, related to cost overruns in a building renovation, is completed “with transparency and finality.” It’s not clear that Pirro’s move, which defers the investigation to the Fed’s own Office of Inspector General, will meet that test. When announcing the decision Friday, Pirro also said she would “not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”