U.S. prosecutors have served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said in a video statement on Sunday night.

The Fed received the subpoenas from the Justice Department on Friday, Powell said. He said federal prosecutors are threatening a criminal indictment relating to Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June. That testimony concerned in part the Fed’s renovation of the central bank’s offices in Washington, D.C.

Powell claimed, without evidence, that the inquiries into the renovations and his congressional testimony were merely “pretexts” for political interference in monetary policy. The threat of criminal charges, Powell claimed, was the result of the Fed refusing to follow the “preferences of the president” when setting interest rates.

Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: https://t.co/5dfrkByGyX pic.twitter.com/O4ecNaYaGH

— Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) January 12, 2026

“This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation,” Powell said.

President Donald Trump denied having any knowledge of the investigation, according to NBC News.

“I don’t know anything about it, but he’s certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings,” Trump told NBC News Sunday night. (Read more from “Powell Accuses Trump Administration of Political Intimidation as Justice Department Probes Fed Chair” HERE)