Trump: I don’t know anything about the investigation, but Powell isn’t very good
US President Donald Trump has denied knowledge of the Justice Department’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. “I don’t know anything about it, but he’s certainly not very good at the Fed and he’s not very good at building buildings,” Trump said on NBC. The investigation in fact concerns alleged irregularities in the renovation of the Fed buildings. A 2.5 billion dollar project that US President Donald Trump this summer defined as excessive. Trump clarified that the subpoena from the US Department of Justice had nothing to do with interest rates. «What should put pressure on him is the fact that rates are too high. It’s the only pressure he has,” Trump said. According to American President Powell “he has hurt many people” and “I believe that public opinion is putting pressure on him”.
«Bessent to Trump: the investigation into Powell will create chaos on the markets»
However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent does not approve of the Justice Department’s investigation against Powell and would have made this clear to Donald Trump. According to Axios, the Treasury secretary told the president that the investigation risks “creating chaos” and harming markets. But Bessent’s concerns aren’t just financial. Powell’s term expires in May but the secretary hoped that if Trump nominated a replacement sooner he would leave. With the investigation, Bessent believes, «Powell is adamant. This has really complicated things”, writes the US site.
Bernanke, Yellen, Greenspan: «Trump uses judicial actions to weaken Central Bank»
A host of former Federal Reserve chairmen, Treasury secretaries and leading economists gathered today to support Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, who faces potential perjury charges from the Justice Department. “The alleged criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell is an unprecedented attempt to use prosecution to undermine the independence” of the central bank, read a statement supported by more than a dozen signatories. “This is how monetary policy is implemented in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies in general,” it continues. “It has no place in the United States, whose greatest strength is the rule of law, which is the basis of our economic success.” Signatories of the statement include former Fed Chairs Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen and Alan Greenspan, along with former Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson, Timothy Geithner and Jacob Lew. Economists such as Glenn Hubbard, Kenneth Rogoff and Jared Bernstein also signed.
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