WARREN, DURBIN PRESS AG BONDI AND DIRECTOR PULTE TO PRESERVE AND HAND OVER RECORDS RELATED TO EFFORTS TO INFLUENCE AND INTIMIDATE MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE

The following information was released by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs:

"The Trump Administration's apparent efforts to seize control of the Fed by criminally investigating its Chair and its board members when they fail to acquiesce to the President are dangerous, authoritarian, and unprecedented."

Washington, D.C. Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters to Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte demanding all documents and communications related to criminal investigations of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell be preserved. The Senators pressed Bondi and Pulte to provide their Committees copies of all materials related to the Department's broader efforts to influence and intimidate members of the Federal Reserve, including its criminal investigation of Governor Lisa Cook. In the letter to Director Pulte, Ranking Members Warren and Durbin cite reporting suggesting that he may have played a key role in the Trump Administration's decision to criminally investigate Chair Powell.

"This investigation appears to be a serious misuse of power, and yet another action in a series of President Trump's unlawful efforts to seize control of the Federal Reserve by any means necessary." the Senators wrote to Bondi and Pulte. "The Trump Administration's apparent efforts to seize control of the Fed by criminally investigating its Chair and its board members when they fail to acquiesce to the President are dangerous, authoritarian, and unprecedented."

The Senators pressed Attorney General Bondi: "Have you or any other DOJ officials discussed the criminal investigation of Chair Powell, Governor Lisa Cook, or any other Fed official with President Trump or any other White House official? ... Did President Trump or any other White House official urge you or any other DOJ official to open a criminal investigation of Chair Powell or any other Fed official?"

The Ranking Members requested that DOJ and FHFA provide to their Committees:

All documents, communications, and materials related to any criminal investigation into Chair Powell or Governor Cook.

Records generated by FHFA officials, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or DOJ officials related to these investigations.

A detailed account of communications between FHFA, DOJ, and other federal officials including the White House and Treasury regarding Powell, Cook, Federal Reserve building renovations, or interest rate decisions.