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Fed’s Powell says administration has threatened criminal indictment over his Senate testimony

By Thomson Reuters Jan 11, 2026 | 6:46 PM

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell ‍said on Sunday the Trump administration has threatened him with a criminal indictment ‌over Congressional testimony ‌he gave last summer, sending subpoenas to the Fed on Friday in what ​he called a “pretext” aimed at ‍furthering pressure ​on him in ​a dispute with President ‍Donald Trump over interest rates.

“On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal ‍Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, threatening a criminal indictment ‍related ‍to my ​testimony before the ​Senate ⁠Banking Committee last ‌June,” Powell said in a statement on Sunday night.

(Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Tom ⁠Hogue)