The Department of Justice is closing its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell while the Federal Reserve’s inspector general reviews cost overruns tied to the central bank’s building project, District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Friday.
Pirro said in a post on X that the Federal Reserve’s inspector general has been asked to examine building cost overruns “in the billions of dollars” that she said have been borne by taxpayers.
“The IG has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to American taxpayers,” Pirro wrote, adding that she expects a comprehensive report “in short order.”
Pirro said the inspector general’s review should help resolve the questions that led her office to issue subpoenas in the matter.
“Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry,” Pirro wrote.
She also left open the possibility of reviving the case, saying she would “not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”
The investigation had threatened to complicate the confirmation process for Powell’s successor at the Federal Reserve. For now, the matter is shifting from a criminal inquiry to an internal oversight review by the Fed’s inspector general.
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