Pirro Finally Dropped the Powell Investigation. She Never Had Evidence. She Never Needed Any.

← all posts

On April 24, 2026, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced on X that she was closing her office’s criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Just like that. After five months of subpoenas, surprise construction site visits, press conferences, appeals, and a judge telling her she had “essentially zero evidence” of a crime — she’s done. Not because the law required it. Not because the facts exonerated Powell. Because Republican Senator Thom Tillis was blocking Kevin Warsh’s confirmation as the next Fed chair, and the only way to get Trump’s nominee through was to kill the investigation that Tillis said was an attack on the Fed’s independence.

The entire probe was a political weapon from the beginning. Everyone knew it. A judge said it. And now the weapon has been put down — not because it was wrong, but because it was getting in the way of something Trump wanted more.

Read That Last Part Again

On April 23 — one day before she closed the investigation — Pirro held a press conference and said: “This investigation continues. I am in the legal lane. There are others who are in the political lane. I don’t intersect those two lanes.” She said she was appealing Judge Boasberg’s ruling. She said the idea that a judge could block a grand jury investigation was outrageous. She was all in.

Twenty-four hours later, she posted on X that she was closing the investigation and handing it to the Fed’s Inspector General, Michael Horowitz. What happened between Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning? The same thing that always happens: the political math changed.

Tillis Was the Kill Switch

Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina — a Republican who sits on the Senate Banking Committee and is not seeking reelection — did something almost no one in the GOP does anymore: he refused to go along. He said the investigation was “political” and would “improperly interfere with markets.” He accused Pirro of seeking “brownie points” with Trump. He vowed to block Warsh’s nomination for the remainder of the 119th Congress if the probe continued.

With the Banking Committee split 13–11, Tillis alone could prevent Warsh from advancing to a full Senate vote. Powell’s term as chair ends May 15. Without Tillis, no Warsh. Without ending the investigation, no Tillis. That’s not a legal resolution. That’s a hostage negotiation where the hostage-taker was the Department of Justice.

The Investigation Found Nothing Because There Was Nothing to Find

Here’s what the investigation actually showed: The Federal Reserve’s headquarters renovation costs ran about $600 million over a 2022 estimate, bringing the total to approximately $2.5 billion. Trump claimed it should have cost $25 million. The Fed’s own independent Inspector General audited the renovation costs in 2021. Powell asked the IG to take another look last year. A judge reviewed the DOJ’s justification for subpoenas and found it “thin and unsubstantiated.” A prosecutor admitted under oath that they hadn’t found evidence of criminal conduct.

In the entire five-month investigation, nobody was charged, nobody was arrested, no evidence of fraud was produced, and a federal judge used the word “pretextual” to describe the whole thing. That word matters. It means the stated reason — building costs — was not the real reason. The real reason, as Powell said in January, was to pressure the Federal Reserve into cutting interest rates.

Pirro’s Exit Statement Was a Masterclass in Not Admitting Anything

Here is what Pirro posted on X: “This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns — in the billions of dollars — that have been borne by taxpayers. I expect a comprehensive report in short order. Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry.”

Then the kicker: “Note well, however, that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”

Translation: I found nothing. A judge said I had nothing. I’m leaving. But I want you to know I could come back. Because the real point was never the investigation — it was the threat of one.

This Is the Third Failure Against Trump’s Perceived Enemies

The Powell probe joins a growing list of DOJ efforts to go after people Trump doesn’t like that have collapsed:

• Powell investigation: Five months, zero evidence, quashed subpoenas, closed April 24
• Letitia James investigation: DOJ attempted to prosecute New York’s AG — also unsuccessful
• James Comey investigation: Targeted the former FBI director — also went nowhere

As the AP noted: “The decision to abandon the investigation represents a rare pullback for a Justice Department that over the last year has moved aggressively, albeit unsuccessfully, to prosecute public figures the president does not like.”

This DOJ doesn’t investigate crimes. It investigates enemies. And when the investigations don’t produce crimes, it keeps going anyway until something more important forces it to stop. Today, that something was Kevin Warsh.

What Happens Now

Warsh will almost certainly be confirmed. Tillis has already said he has “extraordinary credentials.” The Senate Banking Committee will advance the nomination. Powell’s chair term ends May 15.

But Powell hasn’t said whether he’ll leave the Board of Governors. His separate governor term runs until January 2028. In March, he said: “I have no intention of leaving the Board until the investigation is well and truly over, with transparency and finality.” The investigation is now closed. Whether that qualifies as “finality” in Powell’s mind remains to be seen. If he stays on the Board, Trump can’t fill that seat — and the seven-member Board loses a vacancy Trump was counting on.

The Federal Reserve’s independence survived this round. But it survived because one Republican senator who wasn’t running for reelection decided to stand in the way. That’s not a system working. That’s a system that got lucky.

Sources

• ABC News: DOJ dropping criminal probe of Fed Chair Powell; Pirro announced closure April 24; senior DOJ officials contacted senators including Tillis; Fed IG Horowitz will take over; Pirro: “I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.” April 24, 2026.
• Associated Press (via WRAL): DOJ ended investigation; prosecutor conceded in March closed-door hearing no evidence of crime found; Boasberg: “essentially zero evidence”; “thin and unsubstantiated”; Pirro’s investigation among several into Trump’s perceived adversaries; Letitia James and Comey probes also unsuccessful. April 24, 2026.
• Fox Business: Pirro closes investigation; Tillis had been blocking Warsh over the probe; Warsh confirmation hearing April 21–22; Tillis accused Pirro of seeking “brownie points”; White House spokesman: “American taxpayers deserve answers about the Federal Reserve’s fiscal mismanagement.” April 24, 2026.
• MarketWatch (via Morningstar): Warsh’s confirmation now expected; Warsh first Fed meeting likely June; Wolfe Research: “Trump was reluctant to drop the probe but the priority is getting his pick confirmed.” April 24, 2026.
• Wikipedia: Full timeline of the investigation from November 2025 to April 24, 2026 closure; Tillis vowed to oppose any Fed nomination until investigation resolved; Banking Committee composition 13R–11D.
• EOH: Pirro’s Prosecutors Showed Up at the Federal Reserve Unannounced.
• EOH: Trump Says He’ll Fire Powell From the Fed Board Entirely.