A US federal judge annulled a lawsuit brought by the government against the president of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, on whom President Donald Trump has made repeated attacks, including personal ones.
In the decision, dated March 11th and made public this Friday, March 13th, judge James Boasberg justifies that “There is ample evidence that the primary (if not the sole) purpose of these lawsuits is to pressure Mr. Powell to either yield to President Trump or to resign and make way for a Fed Chairman who will do so”.
“On the other hand, the government has presented no evidence that Mr. Powell has committed any crime other than displeasing the President.”said the judge.
Boasberg’s decision rejects two requests for documents presented by the Attorney General’s Office to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, concluding that they were “pretexts.”
These documents, he says, concerned work at the Fed headquarters in Washington and Powell’s testimony before Congress about the costs of these renovations.
The prosecutor for the District of Columbia, who had initiated the investigation against Powell, strongly denounced the decision, accusing Boasberg of being a “partisan” judge and guaranteeing that he will appeal.
Trump, who in his first term appointed Powell in 2017, has repeatedly urged the central bank to cut interest rates to stimulate the economy, publicly reprimanding Powell and even resorting to personal insults, describing the central banker as “a big loser” or “the Late One – the WORST”.
Trump also attacked Powell over the renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters, threatening to sue Powell “for incompetence.”
The conflict intensified at the beginning of the year, when federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation against Powell, focusing on the work at the Fed headquarters and his testimony in Congress.
In a video message in January, Jerome Powell revealed that he was the target of the lawsuit, which could result in criminal charges.
He categorically denounced an attempt to intimidate the institution for not following “the President’s recommendations”.
Powell’s message, unusual for a central banker, provoked outrage in the business community, which considered it yet another attack on the monetary institution’s independence.
Some congressional Republicans also supported Powell, warning that they would not confirm any Fed nominations until the issue was resolved.
To replace Powell, whose term ends in May, Trump nominated former governor Kevin Warsh, but the Senate has not yet set a date for his confirmation hearing.
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