The U.S. Department of Justice is no longer planning to appeal the court's decision to vacate two subpoenas issued against the Federal Reserve and its Chair, Jerome Powell, marking the latest sign of retreat by Washington federal prosecutor Jennine Pirro in a highly politicized investigation. Last month, Pirro announced the end of a criminal probe into cost overruns related to the Federal Reserve’s $25 billion headquarters renovation project. For several months prior, prosecutors had sought evidence suggesting Powell committed fraud or gave false statements to Congress, but on March 3, Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that prosecutors had "barely provided any evidence of criminal conduct" and deemed the subpoenas an unlawful attempt by the Trump administration to pressure Powell into lowering interest rates or resigning. Originally, Pirro stated she would still pursue an appeal to uphold the principle that such subpoenas fall within prosecutors’ legitimate authority, even after the investigation concluded. However, her office said Monday that because the criminal investigation is now closed, an appeal might be dismissed as lacking a justiciable controversy, and thus will not proceed further. Instead, prosecutors are asking Boasberg to rescind his previous ruling, arguing it unduly restricts the executive branch’s power to investigate crimes and could raise First Amendment issues. Prosecutors contend that criticism of an investigation target by the president or their aides should not automatically invalidate a grand jury investigation.
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1864312500326409/
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