Source: TheHill.com

Prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) visited the Federal Reserve’s headquarters on Tuesday as part of a probe into the central bank and its chair, Jerome Powell, according to multiple reports.

The New York Times reported that prosecutors Carlton Davis and Steven Vandervelden, along with investigator Matthew Fox-Moles, visited the Fed’s construction site but were turned away because they had not requested permission to visit ahead of time and there were safety protocols in place.

Davis, Vandervelden and Fox-Moles work in the office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, who is overseeing the probe into Powell.

Pirro’s office launched the investigation in January, serving subpoenas to the central bank and its chair regarding the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation project and Powell’s testimony to the Senate Banking Committee last June.

In a statement to The Hill, Pirro said, “Any construction project that has cost overruns of almost 80% over the original construction budget deserves some serious review. And these people are in charge of monetary policy in the United States?”

A spokesperson for the Fed declined comment.

Last month, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg blocked the DOJ’s subpoenas from being enforced. The judge wrote in his ruling that prosecutors did not issue the subpoenas “for a proper purpose.”

While the investigation officially concerns cost overruns for the renovation project, Powell said in January that it was a show of force by President Trump — who repeatedly slammed the central bank and its chair last year for not backing an earlier or larger cut to 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 argued at the time.

The Fed chair’s term expires in May, while Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed him. But Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who sits on the Senate Banking panel, has said he will not support Warsh’s nomination until the probe into Powell is over.

The Banking Committee will hold a hearing concerning Warsh’s nomination at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

While Powell’s term ends in May, he can remain on the board of the central bank through 2028. But the president said Wednesday in an interview on Fox Business Network that he is ready to fire Powell if he does not step down at the conclusion of his term as chair.

Updated at 3:11 p.m. EDT