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January 13, 2026

Ex-Treasury Secretaries & Fed Chairs Criticize Criminal Probe into Jerome Powell
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A bipartisan group of former Treasury secretaries and other top economic
officials has blasted the Trump administration for launching a criminal
investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The probe was
set in motion after Powell refused Trump's demands to lower interest
rates. The former officials described the investigation as an
"unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine" the
independence of the Federal Reserve. Signatories to the letter include
former Fed chairs Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan. The
Wall Street Journal reports Trump's own Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
has privately warned Trump the move to investigate Powell could
backfire.


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