Pirro Drops Appeal Bid in Fed Probe but Powell Still Has No Clear Exit
CNBC reported Sunday that U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro quietly abandoned her plan to appeal court rulings that had blocked her criminal investigation of the Federal Reserve. Instead, Pirro filed a motion asking the presiding judge to vacate those rulings entirely. The tactical reversal stops the immediate legal threat to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, but it falls well short of the clean resolution he is demanding before stepping down.
Pirro’s Sudden Shift in Legal Strategy
Pirro had long signaled she would take her case to a higher court after Chief Judge James Boasberg of the D.C. district court twice quashed her subpoenas to the Fed. Her appeal deadline fell on Monday. Rather than file, she sought to wipe the prior rulings from the record altogether. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean P. Murphy told CNBC the move was unusual. “A motion to vacate is essentially asking the judge to just pretend something never happened,” Murphy said. He added that Pirro likely lacks standing to erase what amounts to a government loss in this particular proceeding.
Background: How the Probe Began
Pirro opened the investigation in November targeting alleged cost overruns in the Fed’s ongoing headquarters renovation and related congressional testimony by Powell. Boasberg ruled against her in March, finding her office produced no specific evidence of wrongdoing. He wrote that circumstantial signs pointed heavily toward political motivation, concluding that subpoenas appeared designed to pressure Powell into cutting interest rates or resigning. The judge upheld that finding in April. Pirro has not publicly presented evidence of criminal conduct at any point since the probe launched.
Powell Digs In After Chair Term Nears Expiry
Powell’s formal term as Fed chair expires May 15. He told reporters last week he intends to remain on the Fed’s Board of Governors until the legal threat is resolved with what he called “transparency and finality.” Pirro’s latest maneuver does not satisfy that bar. She stated to CNBC that she continues to contest Boasberg’s rulings and reserves the right to reopen the investigation. The Fed declined to comment on her motion. Boasberg has not yet ruled on the vacatur request. Separately, questions persist over whether Pirro ever secured the required sign-off from senior Justice Department officials to pursue an appeal, given that appeals can set precedents binding on the DOJ itself.
The standoff leaves the Fed’s institutional independence in a contested legal grey zone precisely as policymakers navigate rate decisions under intense White House scrutiny. Markets have watched the dispute closely, given that Fed independence is widely viewed as foundational to U.S. monetary credibility.
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