Judge quashes grand jury subpoenas in Powell probe, dealing blow to DOJ

A federal judge has quashed the Justice Department’s subpoenas targeting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, according to a court filing unsealed Friday — a major blow to the Trump administration’s criminal investigation into the central bank’s leader.

In a remarkable decision, Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote that “a mountain of evidence” suggested that “the Government served these subpoenas on the [Federal Reserve] Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning.” Boasberg added that federal prosecutors “produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime,” calling the Trump administration’s case “so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual.” 

Boasberg went even further, writing that the investigation into Powell fit a “pattern” that several of the president’s adversaries have now faced from Trump’s Department of Justice. 

“Being perceived as the President’s adversary has become risky in recent years,” he wrote. “In his second term, Trump has urged the Department of Justice to prosecute such people, and the Department’s prosecutors have listened.” 

The decision casts doubt on whether the case opened by Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, can proceed.

Pirro responded immediately and defiantly at a press conference, calling the decision “wrong and without legal authority,” and claiming that it was “untethered to the law.” 

“No one is above the law, but for the first time a judge’s ruling that a grand jury subpoena on its face, legal in all regards, can be ignored because a judge thinks the subject is beyond reproach,” Pirro said. She added that she would “not only [be] appealing, but making a motion to reconsider.”

Powell’s lawyers fought the grand jury subpoenas issued to Powell as a part of the DOJ’s investigation into the costly renovation of the Fed’s headquarters last month after the chairman publicly argued that the investigation was motivated by President Trump’s desire to slash interest rates. A lawyer for Powell declined to comment on Friday’s ruling.

There have been tensions between senior officials at the Justice Department and Pirro over her decision to pursue such a probe against Powell, according to two people familiar with the dynamic. Pirro signed off on investigating Powell in November 2025, blindsiding senior DOJ leaders and officials at the White House, who were similarly frustrated by her actions and disagreed with them.

One White House official told MS NOW that Pirro acted irrationally in doing so, and suggested that the investigation would likely never materialize. But despite internal White House frustration with the investigation, Trump favored Pirro’s aggressiveness in pursuing Powell, someone the president has long been scathingly critical of, according to the same official.

After intense backlash from Trump allies and GOP lawmakers, who warned that the administration was endangering the central bank’s credibility and independence, officials at the Justice Department discussed quietly closing the investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. However, the subpoenas against Powell were ultimately not withdrawn, and Pirro’s office maintained that the investigation was active and ongoing. 

The DOJ and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Trump, who publicly denied knowing “anything about” the Powell probe, has waged a highly unusual and public campaign against Powell, whom he blames for not acting fast enough to lower interest rates that affect the economy. But during a Dec. 30 news conference, Trump called Powell a “fool,” and said he was considering filing a lawsuit against him over the renovation of the Fed building.

Trump has repeatedly urged the Justice Department to pursue legal actions against his political enemies, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey, and critics worry that the investigation into Powell is an extension of that pattern.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who has vowed to block all Federal Reserve nominations over the criminal investigation into Powell, said in a post on X that the ruling “confirms just how weak and frivolous the criminal investigation of Chairman Powell is and it is nothing more than a failed attack on Fed independence.” 

“We all know how this is going to end and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment and move on,” Tillis added. 

Earlier this week, after meeting with Trump’s pick for chair, Kevin Warsh, Tillis told reporters that federal prosecutors should admit to making a mistake by pursuing an investigation against Powell. 

“There’s one way out of a box canyon,” said Tillis. “It’s admitting you made a mistake.”

Mychael Schnell contributed to this article.