WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) – White House adviser Kevin Hassett played down the federal criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, saying he expected there would be “nothing to see here”.
The Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation into Powell over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion project to renovate two historical buildings at the Fed’s headquarters complex. Powell, who disclosed the probe on Sunday, denies wrongdoing, and said the unprecedented actions were a pretext to put pressure on him for not satisfying U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-running demands for sharply lower interest rates.
Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council who is a candidate to replace Powell, said in an interview with Fox Business Network that he wished there had been more transparency from the Fed about cost overruns of building renovations.
“The bottom line is, I expect, you know, Jay is a good man – I expect that there’s nothing to see here, that the cost overruns are related to things like asbestos, as he says. But I sure wish they had been more transparent,” Hassett said.
The probe drew criticism from foreign economic officials, investors and former U.S. government officials from both political parties – as well as lawmakers in Trump’s own Republican Party, as politicizing sensitive policymaking.
Powell’s term as Fed chair ends in May. Trump has yet to announce a replacement.
Hassett tried to minimize the federal criminal probe as a “simple request for information”.
“I’m sure the information will be forthcoming shortly, and then things will move forward,” he told “Mornings with Maria.”
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Alex Richardson)
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