Fed Chair Powell Criminally Referred To DoJ For Perjury

Last week saw President Trump kinda sorta deny reported plans to fire Fed Chair Jay Powell:

“We’re not planning on doing it,” he said Wednesday at the White House. 

“I don’t rule out anything,” he added, “but I think it’s highly unlikely, unless he has to leave for fraud.”

But now, that latter comment is coming into play as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., refers Powell to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal charges, accusing him of two specific instances of lying under oath.

Luna is accusing Powell of perjury on two occasions, according to a letter to the DOJ first obtained by Fox News Digital.

“On June 25, 2025, Chairman Powell provided testimony under oath before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs regarding the renovation of the Federal Reserve’s Eccles Building. In his statements, he made several materially false claims,” Luna’s letter said.

Specifically, she accused him of lying about lavish amenities at the Federal Reserve’s Eccles Building and misrepresenting its state of maintenance.

“Separately, in a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, Chairman Powell characterized the changes that escalated the cost of the project from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion as minor. However, documents reviewed by congressional investigators indicate that the scope and cost overruns of this project were neither minor in nature nor in substance,” Luna wrote.

She claimed his statement that the cost increase was to simplify construction and avoid further delays was false.

“It is contradicted by the Federal Reserve’s final submission to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and by the assertions made in Director Vought’s own original letter to Chairman Powell,” Luna wrote.

“According to those records, the revised plan includes a VIP private dining room, premium marble finishes, modernized elevators, water features, and a roof terrace garden—features that Powell publicly denied existed. While Powell presented the changes as simplifications, the actual project plans suggest the opposite.”

Trade outlet Mortgage Professional reported that Powell denied all accusations of perjury and has directed a formal watchdog probe into renovation project costs of the Eccles Building.

She first announced she would be referring Powell last week on X.

Perjury can be punishable by up to five years in prison in addition to fines.

While Trump and his allies would clearly like to see a Fed Chair cut rates, there are unintended consequences they could be missing here. Firing and replacing Powell would make investors nervous about the stability of the Fed and its ability to deliver low and stable price inflation.

This could push longer-term interest rates up – the opposite of Trump’s goal.