Trump says he knows nothing about it, which may well be true. After all, it’s not as if he’s a detail kinda guy, and it’s hardly surprising that minions act upon his whims with only cursory consideration of the nuts and bolts. And Jeanine Pirro, now the United States Attorney for Washington, D.C., which evokes a sad chuckle from anyone who worked in the criminal courts in Westchester County, New York, is nothing if not Trump’s minion. Or, of course, Trump knows all about it and is just lying.

For quite a while now, Trump has demanded that the Federal Reserve Bank lower interest rates under the misguided grasp of economics that if they just lower rates to make cheap credit, it will make people happy and have no collateral consequences. Imagine a mortgage at a rate of 0.9%. How cool would that be, right?

But the Chairman of the Fed, Jerome Powell, nominated by Trump in 2017 before Trump realized he was not a minion like Pirro and would actually do the job rather than kiss the ring, wasn’t playing along. Trump was displeased. Trump wanted to fire him, despite having no authority to fire him, as if that mattered, but was apparently informed that the disruption to the market would be ruinous.

And then there was the renovations to the old Fed building(s).

The renovations at the center of the investigation into Mr. Powell broke ground in 2022 and are set to be completed in 2027. They are estimated to be about $700 million over budget. The project involves expanding and modernizing the Marriner S. Eccles Building and another building on Constitution Avenue, which date to the 1930s.

The Fed has said that neither of those buildings has been “comprehensively renovated” since their construction nearly 100 years ago, suggesting they were in need of a significant overhaul. Part of the project includes removing asbestos and lead contamination as well as making the facilities compliant with laws related to accessibility for people with disabilities.

The guy who put gold doodads everywhere thought the renovations were too extravagant.

A 2021 version of the Fed’s proposal described private elevators and dining rooms for top policymakers, water fountains and new marble features, in addition to a rooftop terrace for staff. Pressed at a congressional hearing in June, Mr. Powell denied that many of those features were part of the latest proposal.

“There’s no V.I.P. dining room; there’s no new marble,” he said. “We took down the old marble, we’re putting it back up. We’ll have to use new marble where some of the old marble broke. But there’s no special elevators. There’s just old elevators that have been there.”

Mr. Powell added that the project’s plans had “continued to evolve” and that some features that had been initially incorporated were scrapped.

Does this smack of the same controversy as a ballroom that doubled in cost and an East Wing of the White House demolished after a promise it wouldn’t be touched? Hardly. It’s far worse.

Statement from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell

On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June. That testimony concerned in part a multi-year project to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings.

I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one—certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve—is above the law. But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.

This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It is not about Congress’s oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.

This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.

I have served at the Federal Reserve under four administrations, Republicans and Democrats alike. In every case, I have carried out my duties without political fear or favor, focused solely on our mandate of price stability and maximum employment. Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats. I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do, with integrity and a commitment to serving the American people.

Thank you.

Is it possible that Powell lied to Congress? Anything is possible. Granted, Pirro has proven herself incapable of getting indictments and convictions on a scale never before seen in a United States Attorney’s office, save the possibility that not-US Attorney Lindsey Halligan has her beat. But the threat here is flagrant nonetheless. Trump hates Powell and wants him gone so he can command the Fed to lower interest rates to make himself look like a hero, of that there is no doubt.

The Fed, crafted to be immune from political pressure, isn’t immune from criminal prosecution, if there is a United States Attorney willing to do the dirty work. Pirro is exactly that sort of United States Attorney.