criminal

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Sunday the Department of Justice has served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened it with a criminal indictment over his testimony about the Fed’s building renovations.

The move represents a major escalation in President Trump’s battle with the Fed, an independent agency he has repeatedly attacked for not cutting its key interest rate as quickly as he prefers.

The subpoena relates to Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June, he said, regarding the Fed’s $2.5-billion renovation of two office buildings, a project that Trump criticized as excessive.

Until now Powell had maintained a restrained approach to Trump’s criticisms and personal insults, which he has mostly ignored. But after Sunday’s actions, Powell issued a video statement in which he bluntly characterized the threats of criminal charges as “pretexts” to undermine the Fed’s independence when it comes to setting interest rates.

“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,” Powell said.

The central bank had attempted to placate the administration by dialing back some policies, such as efforts to consider the effect of climate change on the banking system, that Trump and his economic advisors clearly opposed.

In his testimony in June, Powell disputed some of the criticisms that had been levied against the Fed’s renovation of two historic office buildings, which have ballooned in cost.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Sunday.

The Justice Department said in a statement Sunday that it can’t comment on any particular case, but added that Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi “has instructed her US Attorneys to prioritize investigating any abuse of tax payer dollars.”

A spokesperson for U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro’s office didn’t immediately respond Sunday to a text message and phone call seeking comment.

With the subpoenas, Powell becomes the latest perceived adversary of the president to face a criminal investigation by the Trump administration’s Justice Department. Trump has urged prosecutions of his political opponents, obliterating institutional guardrails for a Justice Department that for generations has taken care to make investigative and prosecutorial decisions independent of the White House.

The potential indictment has already drawn concern from one Republican senator, who said he’ll oppose any future nominee to the central bank, including any replacement for Powell, until “this legal matter is fully resolved.”

“If there were any remaining doubt whether advisors within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none,” said Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who sits on the Banking Committee that oversees Fed nominations. “It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question.”

Rugaber writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Seung Min Kim, Eric Tucker, Michael Kunzelman and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

BREAKINGBREAKING,

Central bank chair condemns ‘intimidation’ following grand jury subpoenas.

United States President Donald Trump’s administration has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a development set to heighten concerns about the independence of US monetary policy.

Powell said on Sunday that the central bank had been served with grand jury subpoenas related to his testimony about renovations to the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

“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,” Powell said in a rare video message.

“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.”

More to follow…

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a new state-run website Tuesday that tracks what his office calls the “criminal cronies” around President Trump — just the latest trolling tactic by the California governor that directly mirrors Trump’s own use of public resources for political score settling.

Newsom pegged the website’s rollout to recent crime statistics, which were released in early November showing falling rates of homicide and assault in California. The governor’s website catalogs what it calls the top 10 criminal convictions that were followed by pardons offered thus far by Trump — from Jan. 6 rioters to former politicians and business figures convicted of fraud, drug trafficking and financial crimes. The website calls Trump the “criminal in chief.”

The website features AI-generated portraits of such figues as Rod Blagojevich, the only Illinois governor to be impeached and removed from office; former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted of drug trafficking; and Ross Ulbricht, the founder of a dark-web drug marketplace who had been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The images show the men standing in a lineup with the word “felon” stamped in red ink.

“With crime dropping — again — California is proving what real public safety leadership looks like,” read a statement from Newsom. “Meanwhile in D.C., Trump is a felon who surrounds himself with scammers and drug traffickers. We’re providing the public with a resource putting the facts in one place so Californians, and all Americans, can see who he elevates and who he protects.”

The launch is the latest escalation in Newsom’s increasingly aggressive digital campaign against Trump.

In recent months, the governor and his press office have turned social media into a near-daily forum for mocking and trolling the president by firing off all-caps posts, meme-style graphics and sharply worded rebukes aimed at Trump’s brash rhetoric, criminal record, policy proposals and political allies.

The crime data , which was released Nov. 3 by the Major Cities Chiefs Assn., found homicides across California’s major cities fell 18% year over year, robberies dropped 18% and aggravated assaults declined 9%. The association also found that violent crime decreased in every California city reporting data, with the steepest declines in Oakland, where violent crime fell 25%, and San Francisco, where it fell 21%.

Newsom’s new website highlights Trump’s sweeping use of presidential pardons to grant clemency to roughly 1,500 people charged or convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The governor’s office said some of those individuals had prior criminal records and that others went on to be convicted of new crimes after receiving pardons.

The move mirrors tactics Trump and his administration have embraced. Most recently, Trump unveiled a website of “media offenders,” naming journalists and outlets he accuses of bias. Separately, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Kristi Noem has maintained a website highlighting what it calls the “worst of the worst” criminal immigrants arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, framing the page as evidence that the administration is carrying out Trump’s promise of mass deportations.

The state’s website launch comes as Newsom seeks to cast California as a national leader in responsible governance of artificial intelligence.

Earlier Tuesday, the governor announced a slate of initiatives aimed at promoting ethical AI use in state government, including a new advisory council, partnerships with academic and nonprofit groups, and a generative AI assistant for state employees. Among the priorities outlined are strengthening safeguards for children online, countering image-based abuse and improving government operations.

“California is at the forefront of AI technology — and is home to some of the most successful and innovative companies and academic leaders in the world,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re not going to sit on the sidelines and let others define the future for us. But we’re going to do it responsibly — making sure we capture the benefits, mitigate the harms, and continue to lead with the values that define this state.”