A federal judge last week blocked subpoenas leveled against the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell, saying the documents were issued for an improper purpose.

“There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will,” Judge James Boasberg wrote in an opinion made public Friday. “The Government has offered no evidence whatsoever that Powell committed any crime other than displeasing the President.”

The subpoenas, which Powell himself brought to light in January, focus on over-budget renovations at two Fed buildings and an investigation into whether the central bank chair lied during testimony to Congress last June.

Powell, in a video statement in January, called the Justice Department’s alleged motives “pretexts.”

Boasberg, in his ruling, used similar language.

“[The DOJ’s] justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual,” wrote Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and an Obama appointee.

The DOJ will appeal Boasberg’s decision, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said Friday at a press conference.

“This process has been arbitrarily undermined by an activist judge,” Pirro said, adding that Powell is now “bathed and washed in immunity.”

“This judge is shockingly requiring the government to show something akin to probable cause … to justify the issuance of a grand jury subpoena,” Pirro said. “This is not and has never been the law of the land.”

Trump also weighed in on the ruling late Sunday in a Truth Social post, calling Boasberg a “Wacky, Nasty, Crooked, and totally Out of Control Judge” who has been “‘after’ my people, and me, for years.”

“In case after case, Boasberg has displayed open, flagrant, and extreme partisan bias and contempt against Republicans and the Trump Administration,” Trump wrote. “To preserve the integrity of the Judiciary, he should be removed from all cases pertaining to us, and suffer serious disciplinary action.”

The ruling, Trump said, “has little to do with the Law, and everything to do with Politics.”

Lawmakers react

On the political front, however, senators on both sides of the aisle flagged the ruling as a benchmark for the Fed’s continued freedom from presidential influence.

“This ruling confirms just how weak and frivolous the criminal investigation of Chairman Powell is and it is nothing more than a failed attack on Fed independence,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, wrote Friday on X.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, said Friday the Senate should not move forward with any Fed nominations until probes surrounding Powell and central bank Gov. Lisa Cook are dropped.

“Today a federal judge ruled on what we all already know: the Trump Administration's weaponization of the Department of Justice against Jerome Powell amounts to nothing more than a witch hunt,” Warren said in a statement.

Tillis, who sits on the Senate Banking Committee with Warren, vowed in January to oppose any Fed nominee until the Powell case is resolved.

He has reinforced that stance publicly at least twice. When Trump nominated former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh to eventually succeed Powell, Tillis called Warsh a “qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy.”

“However,” he wrote, “my position has not changed.”

Warsh and Tillis met last Tuesday, and the senator came away with a similar take.

“He possesses impeccable credentials and a clear vision for maintaining the Fed's independence while achieving its dual mandate,” Tillis wrote Wednesday on X. “It is unfortunate that an ongoing investigation prevents me from voting for Kevin at this time.”

Tillis’ blockade would mean a Senate Banking Committee vote on Warsh would be deadlocked 12-12 between Republicans and Democrats – assuming all 11 Democrats would vote against.

Tillis last Wednesday wrote he hoped the DOJ “moves quickly to conclude the investigation of Chairman Powell so that we can confirm” Warsh by May. That’s when Powell’s term as chair ends.

The senator’s tone changed Friday to rebuke Pirro’s move.

“We all know how this is going to end and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment and move on,” Tillis wrote. “Appealing the ruling will only delay the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair.”

Unsealed

In addition to quashing the subpoenas, Boasberg last week ordered redacted versions of some documents in the case to be unsealed.

One of the unsealed documents details an exchange between Powell’s personal attorney and prosecutors in the case – indicating that Powell would be inclined to remain on the central bank’s board after his chair term expires to “defend” the Fed’s independence.

While Powell’s term as chair ends in May, he may serve out his term on the Fed board through January 2028. Powell has not publicly stated an intention to stay or leave.

In his ruling, Boasberg flagged a number of social-media posts, but key among them was a July release by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, calling on Congress to investigate Powell.

“Where Pulte and Trump pointed, the U.S. Attorney’s Office followed,” Boasberg wrote. “[Trump] suggested a specific line of investigation into him, which had been proposed by a political appointee with no role in law enforcement, who hinted that it could be a way to remove Powell. The President’s appointed prosecutor promptly complied. Those facts strongly imply that this investigation was launched for an improper purpose, as were the resulting subpoenas.”

Pirro, in her press conference Friday, said her priority is investigating allegations.

“Politics is not the lane I’m in right now,” she said.