In a fiery, 27-page decision, a United States judge has granted a motion to quash two subpoenas related to an investigation into Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank.On Friday, Judge James Boasberg of the US court for the District of Columbia concluded that the subpoenas has been issued for an “improper purpose”: to harass Powell into compliance.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listPowell, Boasberg explained, had been the target of a months-long campaign under President Donald Trump to force the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates rapidly and dramatically.Trump has repeatedly called for Powell to step down as part of that campaign. Powell’s tenure as head of the Federal Reserve Board is set to expire in May.“A mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning,” Boasberg wrote, in a decision that cites numerous public statements from the president.Boasberg added that the government’s justifications for the subpoenas seem hollow.“The Government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime,” he wrote.“Indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual.”As part of his decision, Boasberg ordered the unsealing of the two subpoenas, though they do remain redacted in part.His ruling was quickly rebutted by the …
