Ben Shapiro says the DOJ's investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell is a “mistake,” “bad policy,” and “a risky financial move”
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From the January 12, 2026 edition of The Daily Wire's The Ben Shapiro Show
BEN SHAPIRO (HOST): OK meanwhile, the other gigantic controversy of the day, the Trump Department of Justice has apparently now initiated an investigation into the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.
According to the New York Times, the US attorney's office in DC has opened a criminal investigation into Powell about whether Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project. According to officials briefed on the situation, the inquiry was approved in November by Jeanine Pirro. The investigation escalates Trump's long running feud with Powell, whom the president has continually attacked for resisting his demands to slash interest rates significantly.
Apparently — now again, Powell's term as chair ends in May. He'll still stay on through January 2028 unless he steps down early. Trump wants him to step down early so that his vote goes away. So the the actual investigation, presumably, is into comments made with regard to the rebuild and reno at the center of the Federal Reserve. The reno broke ground in 2022. It was set to be completed in 2027. It's gonna run $700 million dollars over budget. The project involves expanding and modernizing the Marriner S Eccle's building and another building on Constitution Avenue, which dates all the way back to the 1930s. The Fed says neither of those buildings has been comprehensively renovated since their construction nearly a hundred years ago, suggesting they were in need of significant overhaul. So the central bank has cited expenses tied to materials, equipment, and labor because when the original estimate was made, it was back in 2021. The plans have changed, and also things were less expensive in 2021 than they are now.
Here is my question. Obviously, Powell could have said things that were accurate at the time and later became inaccurate because the facts on the ground changed. Is there evidence that Powell was stealing money or embezzling? Well, what is the case here, in other words? And why is it that the Trump administration — the two people who he seems to be focused on very much at the Federal Reserve, are people who have opposed his agenda?
There's a reason why the markets are roiling this morning. This is bad policy. You should not be targeting people based on specious investigations. If it turns out that it's specious. Again, there may be something there. There's suspicion that's what was happening with John Bolton, and then it turns out that John Bolton may very well have breached national security. I don't know the full case with regard to Jerome Powell. But if it turns out that what they're upset at him about has little to do with the actual reno of the Federal Reserve and a lot to do with his policy with regard to interest rates because Trump wants to keep cutting those interest rates — again, I don't believe that the interest rates need to be cut, actually. I think the interest rates are where they need to be to prevent inflation from happening, given the money that's been pouring into the economy.
This is — it is a risky financial move. And, again, just to put it out there, the DOJ should not be used for political purposes whether you are targeting Donald J Trump and your name is Joseph R Biden or whether you are targeting Jerome Powell and your name is president Donald J Trump.
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OK.
Now, again, this is a mistake. The president should not be intervening in Federal Reserve policy in this way. All it does is create uncertainty in an economy that is doing quite well by all available reports. The roiling because of the tariffs has not overcome the momentum in the economy. But playing with fire here is is not a good response.