The Fed chairman gets hit with criminal referral

Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, was hit last month with a criminal referral. 

The referral, according to Fox News, came from U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL).

The congresswoman accused Powell of lying under oath.

I have formally referred Jerome Powell to the DOJ for criminal investigation.

Chairman Powell knowingly misled both Congress and executive branch officials about the true nature of a taxpayer-funded project. Lying under oath is a serious offense— especially from someone tasked… pic.twitter.com/heXcu2YTyX

— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) July 21, 2025

The details

This has to do with testimony that Powell provided to Congress, back in June, about renovations on the Federal Reserve’s Eccles Building.

Luna wrote:

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.

The congresswoman proceeds to go into more detail.

She continued:

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.

So, where did the extra costs come from?

“Simplifications”??

Luna went on to detail what investigators have found.

She 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.

Accordingly, Luna has accused Powell of “lying under oath,” which she referred to as “a serious offense – especially from someone tasked with overseeing our monetary system and public trust.”

She did not just make the accusation, but she also went ahead and formally filed a criminal referral with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which is led by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Ultimately, it will be up to Bondi and the DOJ to decide whether or not to actually bring charges against Powell.

Reports indicate that White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and other top officials in the Trump administration have been investigating the renovation. “We want to go over there, take a tour, and have some really good conversations with the Fed on this,” Vought said.

The post The Fed chairman gets hit with criminal referral appeared first on Conservative Institute.