US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell arrives for a Senate committee hearing last February. Photo / Valerie Plesch, for The Washington Post
The United States Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell, the central bank said, with Powell alleging that the probe is a result of US President Donald Trump’s aggressive push to lower interest rates.
The investigation into Powell is the latest in a string of cases brought by the Trump Administration against government officials whom the President perceives as his foes.
Here’s what to know about other cases and where they stand.
New York Attorney-General Letitia James
The Justice Department indicted New York Attorney-General Letitia James in October, accusing the longtime Trump opponent of committing mortgage fraud when she purchased a property in Virginia. The indictment, filed in Virginia, alleged that James described the property as a second home, instead of an investment, in a bid to secure a lower mortgage rate.
James pleaded not guilty and said the case against her was “nothing more than a continuation of the President’s desperate weaponisation of our justice system”.
In November, a judge dismissed the indictment against James, determining that Lindsey Halligan - whom Trump selected to prosecute the case - was unlawfully appointed and had no authority to bring the case. The department is appealing that decision.
It twice sought to obtain a new indictment in the case but was rejected by grand juries.
On Friday NZT, a New York judge barred the top federal prosecutor in Albany from overseeing a separate criminal investigation into James, ruling that John Sarcone had been unlawfully serving in his role for months and had no legal authority to subpoena James’ office last year.
In her 2018 campaign for attorney-general, James called Trump an “embarrassment” and vowed to pursue litigation against him.
In 2022, she brought a civil fraud case against Trump and his real estate empire.
Two years later, a judge ruled that Trump and others had carried out a plan to use “blatantly false financial data” to borrow money at lower rates. Trump was ordered to pay more than US$350 million in fines, plus interest.
Senator Adam Schiff
Trump accused Senator Adam Schiff (Democrat-California) of mortgage fraud last July, and the Washington Post reported that a criminal referral had been sent to the Justice Department.
Trump claimed that Schiff misstated which home he used as a primary residence, helping him secure a cheaper mortgage.
“I would love to see him brought to justice,” Trump said at the time.
Using personal mortgage files to investigate, criminally refer and indict people for fraud has appeared to be a tactic used by the Trump Administration against its enemies.
Schiff has long attracted Trump’s ire.
Before being elected to the Senate, Schiff led House impeachment proceedings against Trump during the President’s first term.
“This is just Donald Trump’s latest attempt at political retaliation against his perceived enemies,” Schiff wrote in response to the department probe against him.
Public documents related to Schiff’s mortgage and property in Montgomery County, Maryland, show that in October 2020, Schiff signed a document calling the property a second home.
In some earlier documents, it had been designated as a primary residence.
Schiff and his lawyer dismissed the allegations that Schiff misled mortgage lenders as “transparently false” and said Schiff’s lender was aware from the start that he and his wife were buying the Maryland house so his family could live there when he was working in Washington, the Post previously reported.
Fed governor Lisa Cook
Trump also accused Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud, alleging that she declared two properties as her primary residence on applications in 2021: a home in Michigan and a condominium in Atlanta.
Investigators issued subpoenas as part of the inquiry as Cook denied the allegations.
Trump said he had the power to fire Cook immediately, though Cook - the first black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board - disputed that Trump had the authority to fire her, refused to resign, and sued the President for his attempt to remove her from office.
In her complaint, Cook urged the US District Court in Washington to issue an injunction to block the dismissal, which she characterised as “unprecedented and illegal”.
Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency who has zeroed in on prominent Democrats and critics of Trump, wrote on X after the filing that “there is new info we are learning about her deceitfulness while in office”.
In October, the Supreme Court ruled that Cook could remain in her role while litigation continues. The court is set to hear arguments in Cook’s case against Trump next week.
Representative Eric Swalwell
Pulte referred Representative Eric Swalwell (D-California) to the Justice Department in November over allegations of fraud.
Swalwell, who has long criticised Trump, denied the allegations of fraud and said any investigations reflected political retribution.
“This is really about Donald Trump going after his political enemies,” he said.
Swalwell told MSNBC in November that he had “one mortgage and a residence in California” and that he shuttles weekly between Washington and his home state.
Swalwell also filed a lawsuit against Pulte, saying Pulte violated his First Amendment rights and privacy, and accusing Pulte of using government records to access his and other Democrats’ private mortgage records.
Swalwell said Pulte then used his mortgage information to “concoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud” against him.
In 2021, Swalwell sued Trump and his allies, claiming they should be held liable for injuries and destruction caused by their incitement of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
The lawsuit alleged that Trump posed a risk of “inciting future political violence”. The case is pending in federal court.
Swalwell, who recently launched a bid to be California’s next governor, has described himself as “the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade”.
Senator Mark Kelly
The Defence Department last November announced a probe into Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), a combat veteran and prominent Trump critic, citing “serious allegations of misconduct” after he took part in a video alongside five Democratic colleagues reminding US service members of their duty to disobey illegal orders.
The video came amid growing concerns within the armed forces and Congress that US strikes against alleged drug-smugglers around Latin America violate the laws of war.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the time that Kelly was the only lawmaker who, as a retired member of the armed forces, was subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and was therefore the only one being investigated. The FBI also got involved.
A lawyer for Kelly wrote a letter to the Pentagon warning that any legal action against the senator “would be unconstitutional and an extraordinary abuse of power”. Kelly has also said that the effort was an attempt to intimidate him.
The Pentagon said in December that Hegseth was “escalating” his review of Kelly’s involvement in the video.
Last week, Hegseth said he had formally censured Kelly and launched administrative proceedings to consider whether to reduce his Navy rank in retirement.
Experts on military law have argued that the six lawmakers did not appear to say anything illegal and that the duty to disobey unlawful orders is a foundational part of the US military, the Post previously reported.
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