Trump May Have Damaged The Case Against Jerome Powell Before It’s Even Begun

President Donald Trump’s campaign to criminally investigate his political adversaries keeps running into an intractable problem: his mouth.

The news Sunday that the Justice Department has been secretly weighing charges against Fed Chair Jerome Powell — a frequent target of Trump’s attacks — alarmed lawmakers, who called it an effort to weaponize the justice system to affect economic policy. But Trump’s freewheeling commentary has gotten in the way of past prosecutions he demanded — and could get in the way this time, too.

Trump openly called for the prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James — who were subsequently charged by a prosecutor he handpicked for the job — and has demanded similar action against former special counsel Jack Smith, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and others against whom he harbors grudges for investigating him in recent years.

Trump has long attacked Powell over his monetary policy, but more recently he has focused on Powell’s management of the Fed itself, even suggesting Powell could be investigated or sued for his role overseeing a building renovation beset by cost overruns.

In July, Trump called on Powell to “resign immediately” and his housing czar, Bill Pulte, called for Powell to be investigated over his remarks to Congress about the building renovation. A few weeks later, Trump called the renovation project “one of the most incompetent, or corrupt, renovations of a building(s) in the history of construction!" And in September, Trump vented frustration at his Justice Department for failing to move quickly enough to pursue his preferred criminal investigations against political adversaries — a call that appeared to spur action among his top appointees.

"The American people value the President’s candor, transparency, and willingness to always share his thoughts with the public," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.

Trump’s loose talk about Comey and James helped sink those prosecutions, at least for now, and it has already complicated other criminal and civil cases, including the effort to prosecute and deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Trump’s bid to remove Powell’s colleague, Fed governor Lisa Cook. Schiff has worked to preempt potential mortgage fraud charges by framing them as a product of Trump’s years-long vendetta against him.

And on Monday, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) sued the Trump administration over efforts by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to punish him for publicly urging military troops to disobey unlawful orders; his argument: Trump had publicly accused him of sedition in ways that violated his constitutional rights.

Trump denied Sunday that he knew about the subpoenas aimed at Powell, just as he did when his Justice Department neared the indictments of Comey and James. Nevertheless, the influence of Trump’s longtime attacks on Powell would be a centerpiece of Powell’s defense against any such charges — which Powell himself made clear in a video statement Sunday night.

And Powell would have backup.

Two Senate Republicans, Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski, have already accused the Justice Department of carrying out a White House errand, meant to coerce the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, rather than pursue a legitimate criminal investigation — and a third, Kevin Cramer, said he does not believe Powell is a criminal.

Those extraordinary broadsides from within Trump’s own party are the backdrop to any charges that prosecutors might ultimately unveil. And they could have other unforeseen consequences: The Supreme Court is weighing Trump’s bid to fire Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud lodged by Pulte. Pulte was a crucial driver of claims that Powell should be investigated for potentially lying to Congress about the cost overruns of the Fed’s building renovation.

Trump may have motivations that go beyond securing criminal convictions against his adversaries. Even if his targets never reach trial, Justice Department investigations can still upend their lives, forcing them to incur massive legal bills and endure the kind of legal ordeals Trump says he was unfairly put through.

And when those prosecutions fail, Trump often reprises his attacks on the judges overseeing them as he did Sunday on Truth Social, while amplifying reports that James is under renewed investigation by prosecutors in Louisiana.

While Trump’s efforts to wield his administration’s criminal prosecution powers to target his perceived foes have yet to find major traction in court, some of his other tactics in his retribution campaign have had dramatic impact.

Scores of prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on the criminal cases against him, on others related to Jan. 6 or who have ties to Trump nemeses have been fired on questionable legal grounds. Many are pursuing legal action that could eventually win them back pay and perhaps even restore them to their former posts. But that could take years, and the Justice Department has thrown up legal roadblocks to faster relief.