U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro signaled she is abandoning plans to appeal an unfavorable ruling in her effort to investigate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell criminally. On Sunday, appearing on CNN's State of the Union, Pirro said her office would file a motion to vacate the order issued by Chief Judge James Boasberg rather than proceed with the earlier planned appeal [1].
The legal dispute arises from subpoenas Pirro's office issued to the Federal Reserve regarding cost overruns in the Fed's building renovations. Boasberg had quashed those subpoenas, concluding that the prosecutors provided no specific evidence of wrongdoing and that the investigation seemed aimed at harassing Powell for resisting former President Donald Trump's demands for faster interest-rate cuts [1].
Boasberg explained in his ruling that "A mountain of evidence suggests that the government served these subpoenas on the board to pressure its chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning," casting doubt on the legitimacy of the investigation [1].
Pirro defended her approach on CNN, saying, "We're going to make a motion to vacate the order of Judge Boasberg, because we think it's extremely important for us as prosecutors, the precedent that it sets to prevent us from going into a grand jury." She emphasized the significance of maintaining prosecutorial authority in matters involving grand jury investigations [1].
Pirro's appeal deadline was Monday, but she opted to shift course before that date, signaling the office's retreat from the appeal process [1]. The next step is the filing of the motion to vacate Boasberg's order, which will be considered by the court.