In a sharp 27-page ruling, a United States judge has approved a motion to quash two subpoenas related to the investigation into Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank.
On Friday, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. Court for the District of Columbia determined that the subpoena served an “improper purpose”: to coerce Powell into compliance.
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Boasberg noted that Powell was the target of a months-long campaign under President Donald Trump to force the Federal Reserve to rapidly and dramatically lower interest rates.
Trump has repeatedly called on Powell to step down as part of that campaign. Powell’s term as head of the Federal Reserve Board is set to end in May.
“An overwhelming amount of evidence shows that the government issued these subpoenas to the board to pressure its president to vote for lower interest rates or to resign,” Boasberg wrote in a decision, citing several of the president’s public statements.
Boasberg said the government’s justifications for the subpoenas appeared hollow.
“The government has presented essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of any crime,” he wrote.
“Indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are specious.”
As part of his decision, Boasberg ordered the unsealing of two subpoenas, although they remained partially redacted.
His decision was immediately contradicted by the US attorney overseeing the case, Trump-appointed Jeanine Pirro, who held an aggressive but brief news conference on Friday morning.
He accused Boasberg of “inserting himself” into the grand jury proceedings and offering Powell immunity from prosecution. He dismissed Boasberg’s decision as “without legal authority” and said it would be immediately appealed.
“One of the age-old tools that all prosecutors have at their disposal to investigate any crime, including cost evasion, is the grand jury subpoena,” Pirro said.
“However, today, in Washington, an activist judge has taken that tool away from us.”
Pirro denied seeking the subpoena for political purposes when confronted by journalists.
“Our focus is on the law. Our focus is on the people of the district. Our focus is not on politics,” he said.
But Boasberg’s decision suggests otherwise, claiming the Trump administration has waged a campaign to investigate and prosecute political rivals.
Boasberg pointed to such examples, including Trump’s posts calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to file criminal charges against three of his critics: New York Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. The Trump administration has also targeted Democratic nominee Lisa Cook, another member of the Federal Reserve Board, accusing her of alleged mortgage fraud.
Impeachment later faced James and Comey, while Schiff underwent an investigation.
Trump has also targeted Democratic nominee Lisa Cook, another member of the Federal Reserve Board, accusing her of alleged mortgage fraud. His case is currently in the Supreme Court.
“It has become risky recently to be considered an opponent of the president,” Boasberg wrote. “In his second term, Trump has urged the Justice Department to prosecute such people, and department prosecutors have listened to him.”
As the body in charge of monetary policy in the US,
The Federal Reserve operates independently from the US political system, ensuring that its decisions remain free from political influence.
But the Trump administration has launched a historic effort to bring various parts of the government—even parts considered independent—under executive control.
Powell was named head of the Federal Reserve’s seven-member board in 2017 during Trump’s first term as president.
But since Trump returned to the presidency in January 2025, he has pressured Powell to lower interest rates.
Doing so will make loans cheaper and will allow a flood of money into the economy, as well as a boom in businesses that require large money loans for projects and expansion.
However, sharply cutting interest rates also comes with a downside. Economists have warned that, while the stock market may see a temporary boost, the flood of money into the economy could reduce the value of the dollar, weakening the economy in the long term.
Interest rates were lifted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to tackle inflation, and they have been falling steadily ever since.
But Trump argued that the Federal Reserve Board has been too slow to lower interest rates, leading its chairman to be nicknamed “Too Late Powell”.
The President has also suggested he could forcibly remove Powell, though he has not publicly indicated how. “If I wanted to get him out, he’d be out of there very fast, believe me,” Trump said in the Oval Office last year.
On January 11, the feud between Trump and Powell reached a climax with a rare public message from the Federal Reserve Board, in which a post was made. Video: Its president announced that their investigation was ongoing.
In the video, Powell explained that the Justice Department under Trump had successfully sought two grand jury subpoenas regarding his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June 2025.
He stated that the investigation is probing cost overruns resulting from renovations at the Federal Reserve’s historic headquarters in Washington, DC.
“No one, including the chairman of the Federal Reserve, is above the law,” Powell stated. However, we must view this unprecedented action in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.
The Federal Reserve Board later filed a motion in federal court to dismiss the subpoena. Boasberg’s decision comes in response to that request.
Boasberg explained that federal courts can quash such subpoenas if they are deemed to compel compliance that would be “unreasonable or oppressive”.
“The case thus asks: Did prosecutors issue those subpoenas for a proper purpose? The Court finds that they did not,” Boasberg wrote.
The subpoena’s main (if not only) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell into resigning or yielding to the President.
The Trump administration has come under repeated criticism for allegedly taking advantage of the legal system for political purposes, and the president’s attack on Powell has also drawn backlash from some members of the Republican Party.
Most notably, Senator Thom Tillis, who is not running for re-election in the 2026 midterms, refused to approve Trump’s nominee to replace Powell until the investigation closes.
On Friday, Tillis praised Boasberg for his decision to quash the subpoena.
The Republican also warned that, if the Trump administration appealed, he would continue to withhold his vote for Trump’s choice to succeed Powell, Kevin Warsh.
“This decision confirms how weak and frivolous the criminal investigation into Chairman Powell was,” he said. wrote on social media. “This ruling is nothing more than a failed attack on the Fed’s independence.”
He said the case was unlikely to succeed. The U.S. Attorney’s Office should “save itself further embarrassment,” he said.
