Moskowitz, Ranking Member Raskin Lead Letter Demanding Jordan Investigate Blatant Abuse of DOJ Prosecutorial Power

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and led Judiciary Democrats in sending a letter to Chairman Jim Jordan demanding he launch an investigation into the Department of Justice (DOJ) over its blatant abuse of prosecutorial power in conducting a sham investigation into the Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, Jerome Powell. 

Earlier this week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia formally initiated a criminal inquiry into Chair Powell over renovations to the Federal Reserve Board’s historic building. This is a flagrant attempt by the DOJ to intimidate the Board into adjusting interest rates at the whim of Donald Trump and is the latest attack in a sustained public campaign to relinquish control of the central bank to the President.

“We demand that you exercise your authority as Chairman of our Committee to open an investigation into this blatant abuse of DOJ’s prosecutorial power. Surely, as the former Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, you recognize the urgent importance of congressional oversight to ensure that the DOJ is not being used to coerce the Federal Reserve—an independent agency—into artificially juicing the economy to benefit the President and his party ahead of the midterm elections,” wrote the Members.

The Trump Administration’s unprecedented, repeated assaults on the Board’s independence has included threats to illegally fire Chair Powell and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over unsubstantiated and bogus claims. The DOJ’s investigation is the latest attempt to bend the Board to the President’s will, and it is the responsibility of Chairman Jordan and the Judiciary Committee to investigate such corruption.

Executive interference and pressure to set interest rates based on political convenience rather than economic evidence and public interest results in inflation, stunted financial growth, increased unemployment, and erosion of public trust in financial institutions. It is for these reasons that Congress has insulated the Federal Reserve from politization for more than a century. Trump’s attacks on our country’s central bank are a transparent attempt to cover up his ruinous economic policies. These repeated attacks threaten financial stability and have already shaken confidence in U.S. monetary policy.

“Laudably, Chair Powell has pledged not to bow to these threats. But the American people deserve to know why their Justice Department is being used to intimidate the Chair of the Federal Reserve on behalf of a President who wants to use interest rates to cover up his disastrous tariffs and failed economic agenda. They deserve to know who authorized this investigation and whether any White House officials communicated with DOJ about Chair Powell prior to the investigation’s launch,” wrote the Members.

Judiciary Democrats are demanding that Chairman Jordan exercise his authority and investigate the unlawful coercion and abuse suffocating the Federal Reserve at the hands of the Department of Justice.

Click here to read the letter.