Oct 2 (Reuters) – The US Justice Department is not reopening a criminal probe into former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for cost overruns related to the central bank’s building renovation project, a DOJ spokesperson said on Friday.
Attorney General Todd Blanche, in comments to Bloomberg News, which first reported the development, said he has not ruled out continuing to look into the project’s oversight and potentially take action if evidence of wrongdoing came to light.
The Fed’s Inspector General on Wednesday said it found no grounds for a criminal referral or evidence of administrative misconduct tied to the project cost overruns, but its conclusion there was lax oversight drew a fresh call from President Donald Trump for Powell’s resignation. Powell has remained at the Fed as a governor since stepping down as chair in May.
His successor Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said on Thursday he would hire an independent auditor to “verify accuracy and compliance” for all of the project’s costs.
Blanche told Bloomberg News that if this new review finds any evidence of criminal wrongdoing, the Justice Department could investigate.
At his final press conference as Fed chief in April, Powell said he would not leave the Board “until this investigation is well and truly over, with transparency and finality.”
A Fed spokesperson had no immediate comment on Blanche’s statements.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Additional reporting by Natalia Bueno Rebolledo in Mexico City, Editing by Franklin Paul and Andrea Ricci )
