The United States Department of Justice does not intend to reopen the criminal investigation against former president of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, related to the cost overruns in the renovation project of the central bank’s headquarters.
The statement was made by Attorney General Todd Blanche, who stressed, however, that the government may revisit the case if evidence of irregularities emerges. “We are not reopening a criminal investigation against him,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg.
The statement came after the release of a report by the Fed’s Office of Inspector General that found no evidence of Powell’s criminal conduct in the US$2.4 billion project. The document, however, identified a number of management failures that contributed to the increase in the construction costs, initially budgeted at US$1.3 billion in 2020.
Blanche said he found the report satisfactory, but assessed that Powell did not adequately supervise the project. According to him, the Fed will hire an independent audit to review the renovation expenditures. If this analysis identifies possible crimes, the Department of Justice could open a new investigation.
The project has frequently been the target of criticism by President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers, who accuse the Fed of excessive spending and decisions deemed extravagant during Powell’s tenure. The accusations led to the opening of a criminal investigation, later dropped.
This week, Trump again attacked Powell and stated that the former head of the Fed should resign from the institution’s board. According to the Republican, if he does not leave the post, Powell should be prosecuted by the American government for “corruption or incompetence.”
Powell left the presidency of the central bank in May, but remains on the Fed’s board. Since Trump’s return to the White House, the two have been at odds frequently, especially over monetary policy and the pace of interest-rate cuts in the United States.
