Federal prosecutors appeared Tuesday at the construction site for the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, D.C., but were denied entry, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The visit appears to be related to an investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell over the multi-year, $2.5 billion construction project. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. opened the investigation in November at President Donald Trump’s bidding, reviewing whether Powell lied to a Senate committee about cost overruns.
After two deputies with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office spoke with construction workers, they were told they couldn’t access the site without preclearance. They obtained the contact information of the Fed’s legal staff and exited the premises, The Wall Street Journal report says.
When Trump visited the Fed in July, he put Powell on the spot about the cost of renovations to the building going over budget.
“We’re taking a look, and it looks like it’s about $3.1 billion. Went up a little bit—or a lot,” Trump said. “So, the 2.7 is now 3.1. It just came out.”
In January, Powell said that the Fed had received grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department in the investigation.
Powell claimed the investigation was Trump pressuring him to lower interest rates. The president has repeatedly demanded that Powell lower interest rates, nicknaming him “too late.”
Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell, but Powell has said he won’t step down until after the current investigation is finished. Powell has also said he will remain as chair of the Fed’s Board of Governors until the Senate confirms a replacement.
When reminded of this, Trump told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday, “Well, then I’ll have to fire him, OK?”
U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg quashed the two subpoenas of Powell in March.
Trump has a long-standing feud with Boasberg, who last year held the Trump administration in contempt when it did not comply with his order to turn around planes carrying deported illegal aliens from Venezuela. The planes were headed to El Salvador.
After Trump recently removed Pam Bondi from her attorney general post, Pirro’s name has circulated as a candidate for her replacement.