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'As senior editor of Lawfare Media Eric Columbus commented: “Do Vance and DHS think we can’t actually watch the video?” Multiple social media users noted that Good’s last words to Ross were “That’s fine. I’m not mad at you,” while his to her, after he shot her in the face, were “F*cking b*tch!” '
Yep. The government openly hunting citizens for exercising their free speech. And the orders coming from straight from the top.
C'mon now, let's be fair! Is this image of Donald J. Trump manipulated or AI-generated? He looks about 30 lbs. lighter and the bruising on his right hand is concealed.
The investigation, which centers on renovations of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters in Washington, signals an escalation in the long-running clash between President Trump and the chair.
The U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia has opened a criminal investigation into Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, over the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project, according to officials briefed on the situation. The inquiry, which includes an analysis of Mr. Powell’s public statements and an examination of spending records, was approved in November by Jeanine Pirro, a longtime ally of President Trump who was appointed to run the office last year, the officials said.
The investigation escalates Mr. Trump’s long-running feud with Mr. Powell, whom the president has continually attacked for resisting his demands to slash interest rates significantly. The president has threatened to fire the Fed chair and raised the prospect of a lawsuit against him related to the $2.5 billion renovation, citing “incompetence.” AN ESCALATING FIGHT
Mr. Trump told The New York Times in an interview last week that he had decided on who he wants to replace Mr. Powell as Fed chair. He is expected to soon announce his decision. Kevin A. Hassett, Mr. Trump’s top economic adviser, is a front-runner for the top job. While Mr. Powell’s term as chair ends in May, his term as a governor runs through January 2028.
In a rare video message released by the Fed on Sunday, Mr. Powell described the investigation as “unprecedented” and questioned the motivation for the move, even as he affirmed that he carried out his duties as chair “without political fear or favor.” “This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings,” he said. “It is not about Congress’s oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts.”
He warned that the investigation signaled a broader battle over the Fed’s independence. “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” he added. “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”
A spokesman for Attorney General Pam Bondi did not comment on the investigation but said Ms. Bondi had “instructed her U.S. attorneys to prioritize investing any abuses of taxpayer dollars.” The U.S. attorney’s investigation into Mr. Powell underscores Mr. Trump’s larger clash with the Fed. Other broadsides have included an effort to oust Lisa D. Cook, a governor at the central bank whom Mr. Trump tried to fire over allegations of mortgage fraud. Presidents are able to remove officials at the Fed only for “cause,” which has typically meant malfeasance or a dereliction of duty. The Supreme Court will hear arguments for Ms. Cook’s case on Jan. 21.
Congress granted the Fed the authority to set interest rates free of meddling from presidents, whose political fortunes are often tethered to how the economy is faring. Rather, lawmakers stipulated that the central bank should pursue low, stable inflation and a healthy labor market. Mr. Powell said on Sunday that the Justice Department had served the Fed with grand jury subpoenas. Prosecutors in Ms. Pirro’s office have contacted Mr. Powell’s staff multiple times to request documents about the renovation project, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation who discussed an open inquiry on the condition of anonymity.
Starting an investigation is one thing, presenting sufficient evidence to secure an indictment from a federal grand jury — or making it stick — is another. Indictments against two of Mr. Trump’s top targets, the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey and Letitia James, the New York attorney general, were thrown out in November by a federal judge. An investigation into Senator Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, has yet to yield enough evidence to present to a grand jury.
The renovations at the center of the investigation into Mr. Powell broke ground in 2022 and are set to be completed in 2027. They are estimated to be about $700 million over budget. The project involves expanding and modernizing the Marriner S. Eccles Building and another building on Constitution Avenue, which date to the 1930s. The Fed has said that neither of those buildings has been “comprehensively renovated” since their construction nearly 100 years ago, suggesting they were in need of a significant overhaul. Part of the project includes removing asbestos and lead contamination as well as making the facilities compliant with laws related to accessibility for people with disabilities.
In explaining the cost overruns, the central bank cited expenses tied to materials, equipment and labor as well as unforeseen circumstances, such as more asbestos than anticipated and soil contamination.
Comment: Well, it's open warfare now. Little infantile bully Trump vs the Fed. I guess that he woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.
Fed chair hits back, accusing DoJ of threatening criminal charges because central bank defied Trump’s demands
The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve, a significant escalation in Donald Trump’s extraordinary attack on the US central bank.
In a blistering statement on Sunday, Powell argued he had been threatened with criminal charges because the Fed had set interest rates “based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President”.
Trump has repeatedly blasted the Powell and the Fed for declining to bow to his demand for rapid rate cuts.
Powell said the Department of Justice had served the Fed with grand jury subpoenas on Friday, threatening a criminal indictment related to his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June, regarding renovations to the Fed’s historic office buildings in Washington DC.
Allies of Trump spent months last year accusing the Fed of mishandling the multibillion-dollar renovations. Trump had repeatedly threatened legal action.
In a statement on Sunday evening, Powell said: “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”
“I have served at the Federal Reserve under four administrations, Republicans and Democrats alike. In every case, I have carried out my duties without political fear or favor, focused solely on our mandate of price stability and maximum employment.
“Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats. I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do, with integrity and a commitment to serving the American people.”
The White House and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US justice department opens criminal probe into Fed chair Jerome Powell
Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, he said on Sunday.
In a video announcing the probe, Powell said the US justice department served the agency with subpoenas and threatened a criminal indictment over testimony he gave to a Senate committee about renovations to Federal Reserve buildings.
He called the probe "unprecedented" and said he believed it was opened due to him drawing President Donald Trump's ire over refusing to lower interest rates despite repeated public pressure from the president.
The Fed chair is the latest to come at odds with Trump and then face criminal investigation by the US justice department.
"This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation," Powell said.
"I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one, certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve is above the law, but this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration's threats and ongoing pressure," he went on to say.
Powell has repeatedly come under fire from Trump for not cutting interest rates as quickly as the president have liked. In the second half of 2025, the Fed cut interest rates three times.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican who is a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said he would oppose the nomination of Powell's replacement by Trump, and any other Fed Board nominee, "until this legal matter is fully resolved".
"If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none," Tillis said in a statement.
"It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question," the senator said.
The investigation will be overseen by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, according to the New York Times, which first reported the probe.
Comment: Well, hello Senator Tillis! Nice to see you again... been taking a very long nap, have you?
US president says company is ‘playing too cute’ after CEO responds sceptically to his push for oil investment after deposing Nicolás Maduro
Donald Trump has said he might block ExxonMobil from investing in Venezuela after the oil company’s chief executive called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week. Darren Woods told the US president that Venezuela would need to change its laws before it could be an attractive investment opportunity, during the high-profile meeting on Friday with at least 17 other oil executives.
Trump had urged the group to spend $100bn to revitalise Venezuela’s oil industry in a meeting less than a week after US forces captured and removed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power in a brazen overnight raid. Woods’ sceptical remarks quickly emerged as the dominant headline, undercutting the White House’s hopes of building momentum from its engagement with the world’s most prominent oil executives.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way back to Washington on Sunday. “I’ll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute.”
The government of late president Hugo Chávez nationalised the industry between 2004 and 2007, and while Chevron negotiated deals to partner with PDVSA, ConocoPhillips and Exxon left the country and filed for prominent arbitration cases shortly after. Venezuela now owes over $13bn collectively to ConocoPhillips and Exxon for the expropriations, according to court rulings.
Woods told Trump on Friday: “We’ve had our assets seized there twice, and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve historically seen here.” Exxon’s CEO said the company needed durable investment protections introduced and that the country’s hydrocarbons law also needed to be reformed. “If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable,” he said.
ConocoPhillips’ CEO, Ryan Lance, told Trump that his company was the largest non-sovereign credit holder in Venezuela, and called for a restructuring of the debt and the country’s entire energy system, including PDVSA. Trump said ConocoPhillips would get a lot of its money back, but the US would start with a clean slate. “We’re not going to look at what people lost in the past because that was their fault,” he said.
Trump said on Friday that his administration would decide which firms would be allowed to operate in the South American country. “You’re dealing with us directly. You’re not dealing with Venezuela at all,” he said. “We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela.”
On Saturday, Trump signed an executive order to block courts or creditors from seizing revenue tied to the sale of Venezuelan oil held in US Treasury accounts.
Comments
Yep. The government openly hunting citizens for exercising their free speech. And the orders coming from straight from the top.
Who wouldn't support that?
And our top leaders call these young ex-veterans, simply driving a car, "terrorists".
Yes, driving down the street and harboring opinions is now "terrorism". And now simply sitting in automobiles is an excuse to exterminate opposition.
Is this image of Donald J. Trump manipulated or AI-generated?
He looks about 30 lbs. lighter and the bruising on his right hand is concealed.