- Key insight: The Department of Justice asked a federal judge Monday to vacate his March decision quashing two grand jury subpoenas tied to the investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell's sworn comments to Congress on the central bank's building renovations.
- What's at stake: The move came after Pirro agreed to close the Powell investigation to secure the support of Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., for Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh.
- Forward look: The Senate is expected to vote on Warsh's confirmation as early as next week.
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice asked a federal judge to vacate his decision blocking subpoenas in the DOJ's investigation into whether Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell violated the law in his comments to Congress regarding the central bank's ongoing building renovations.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro backed down from earlier promises to appeal the decision from District Chief Judge James Boasberg to
A motion to vacate asks a presiding judge to reconsider a previous decision. It's a weaker legal option than appealing the decision, as Pirro had previously said was her intention. The deadline for Pirro to file a formal appeal is today.
Boasberg quashed the subpoenas in March.
"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 said at the time.
Letting the subpoenas stand, Pirro has said, would undercut the ability of prosecutors in the future to investigate crimes.
"When a federal judge believes that he can stand in front of the door to the grand jury and prevent a prosecutor from going in, when the United States Supreme Court has said the prosecutor can go in on suspicions or rumor, we've got to appeal that decision," she said last week on Fox News.
Pirro previously announced she would
Tillis said at the Senate Banking Committee vote last week that the DOJ would pursue the appeal of the subpoenas, but that they had committed to not reopen the Powell investigation.
"It's no secret that the reason that Mr. Warsh's nomination could have been held up is because of my concern with the investigation," Tillis said ahead of the committee vote Wednesday. "I've got confidence that this investigation is over."
Pirro said in her Monday filing that her office could reopen the investigation into Powell based on the findings of the Fed Inspector General.
"Should the United States Attorney open a new grand-jury investigation, the issuance of any future subpoenas would be based on a different record, one that would presumably include any information generated by the Inspector General's analysis," the DOJ said in the filing. "And, if the Federal Reserve were to object to a hypothetical future subpoena, legal recourse would remain available." She made similar comments on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.
"We continue to litigate the issue," she said on Sunday.
The issue matters little in the way of Warsh's future confirmation. Republicans have enough votes to pass Warsh through the full Senate, now that he's cleared the Senate Banking Committee, where Tillis' opposition alone was enough to stall his progress to the full chamber.
Democratic lawmakers, especially Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have said that the DOJ would simply reopen the case against Powell once they got Tillis' vote on Warsh.
"Yesterday, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro insisted that the Justice Department will 'continue to litigate' its ability to pursue Donald Trump's witch hunt against Fed Chair Powell," Warren said in a statement Monday, referencing Pirro's CNN interview. "Today, Trump's DOJ followed through on that promise, asking a federal court to vacate its order blocking criminal subpoenas and laying the groundwork to restart its bogus investigation at any time. This is not what it looks like to close a criminal case."
The Senate is expected to vote next week on Warsh's nomination. Powell said last week that he
