President Donald Trump blasted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for being either “incompetent” or “crooked” while speaking to reporters in front of the White House on Tuesday morning.
Trump made the comment after he was asked whether the criminal investigation into Powell would undermine confidence in the Fed. The probe was first reported on Sunday night, with the investigation focused on Powell’s testimony before Congress on the multi-year renovation of the Fed building.
“Well, he’s billions of dollars over budget. So he’s either incompetent or he’s crooked, I don’t know what he is,” Trump told reporters. “But he certainly doesn’t do a very good job.”
Powell on Sunday said he believed the investigation had nothing to do with the renovation and that he was being targeted for disagreeing with the president on interest rates.
He described the investigation as a political “consequence” of going against Trump. Powell also said the DOJ served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas on Friday over his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on the renovation project last year.
Trump appointed Powell as the head of the Fed during his first term, but their relationship has soured since then.
The president has routinely bashed Powell for not moving quickly enough in his view to cut rates and has branded him with the nickname “Too Late.”
He told reporters in late December he was considering suing Powell for “gross incompetence” because the cost of renovating the Fed building had gotten out of control. Trump said the cost was north of $4 billion now — about $1.5 billion more than projected.
“It’s going to end up costing more than $4 billion — $4 billion! It’s the highest price of construction,” Trump said. “Again, Democrats — highest price of construction per square foot in the history of the world. Gorgeous monuments are built for a much smaller price. So we’re thinking about bringing… what’s called [a] gross incompetence lawsuit.”
Trump said it was only right, considering the project was Powell’s “baby.”
Watch above via CNN.
