The Federal Reserve's watchdog on Wednesday found no grounds for a criminal referral over a roughly $1 billion cost overrun on renovations to the central bank's Washington buildings, while faulting project oversight. The findings prompted President Donald Trump to renew his call for former Fed chief Jerome Powell to resign.
Page F3From§Eachthe coffee break edition — 3 October 2026
Trump asked the Justice Department to study the report that cleared Powell; studied, it stayed cleared.
As it ran on the front
Kevin Warsh took the oath as Federal Reserve chairman earlier this year and said the regime was changing, that past mistakes would not repeat. The ledger disagreed on September 16, when the Fed raised its interest rate target for the first time under his gavel, the board voting unanimously. The next day, two entries posted against the same account: the president, who had spent months calling Jerome Powell a mistake for not cutting rates, declined to say the same about Warsh for raising them; that same day, speaking with reporters in North Carolina, he called the Fed board "hostile" and still defended the chairman he had appointed to sit on it. On September 23, Fed Governor Michael Barr told reporters another increase was "likely." This week the Fed is expected to deliver it, against the president's stated wishes, the same account filed a second time.
Powell's ledger runs on a different page but the same book. On September 30, the Fed's inspector general closed its review of the $2.4 billion headquarters renovation the president had spent more than a year attacking, finding mismanaged costs and no criminal violations. That same day, the president asked Attorney General Todd Blanche to "study" the report. Separately that day, he renewed his call for Powell to resign. Blanche studied it. On October 2, the Justice Department told Bloomberg it is not reopening the criminal investigation; Blanche said he has not ruled out further scrutiny if new evidence surfaces — evidence the inspector general's own office did not find while producing the report he was asked to re-read.…
…(cont) Run the two columns side by side, hon. The chairman the president shields from criticism is on track to hand him a rate increase he did not ask for, weeks after the first one. The predecessor the president wanted prosecuted is handed, for the second time this year, a finding of no crime, this one with an extra reading attached at the president's own request and the same number at the bottom. Both entries close against the same signature, made by the same man, in the same month. Neither books the outcome he asked for: no dovish vote, no criminal referral. One man keeps a job the president will not ask him to leave; the other keeps a record the president asked someone to reopen and nobody did. The accounts that were supposed to come due — a prosecution, a dove — both carry a zero balance this quarter. The only figure that moved is the interest rate, and it moved the wrong way.
“He asked his own Justice Department to take another look at the file that already cleared Powell, and they looked, and it's still clear — that's not oversight, that's a receipt with a second stamp on it. Same month, the chairman he picked to be the dove votes for another hike, and he still won't say a word against the guy. Both doors he wanted open stay shut, and he's the one holding both sets of keys.”
“The Attorney General reviewed the file exactly like the president asked and found nothing new, that's the system working, that's due diligence — and Warsh raising rates anyway proves the Fed is independent, which is what the president's always said he wants... independent, right, that's definitely the word I meant.”
Earlier in this story
- Trump calls the Fed "hostile" for a hike, then calls the chairman who voted for it blameless. By Ruth · the breakfast edition, 3 October 2026
The receipts
Trump criticized $2.4bn rehab amid attempts to pressure then Fed chair Jerome Powell into lowering interest rates An internal watchdog said the Federal Reserve mismanaged costs associated with a $2.4bn renovation of its Washington DC headquarters, but noted that no criminal violations occurred, according to a report released on…
The White House ballroom was announced at $200 million and now costs $400 million; the East Wing was demolished for it Fortune, 6 April 2026
DoJ declines to reopen investigation into former Fed chair Jay PowellKevin Warsh’s predecessor had been investigated over cost overruns related to central bank renovation project The US justice department is not reopening a criminal investigation into former Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for cost overruns related to the central bank’s building renovation project, a department spokesperson said…
When Kevin Warsh was sworn in as chairman of the Federal Reserve, he touted a planned policy regime change for America’s central bank and pledged not to repeat past mistakes. Four months-plus into his tenure, Warsh finds himself in the same boat as his predecessor: sticky inflation and the need for higher interest rates. Warsh […]
The DOJ disbanded its crypto enforcement team in April 2025 and ordered inconsistent investigations closed - while the president's family runs a crypto business CNBC, 8 April 2025 (Blanche memo)
Blanche: DOJ won’t reopen investigation into Jerome PowellAttorney General Todd Blanche said Friday that the Justice Department will not open its criminal investigation into former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell following the release of an internal watchdog report that found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. “We’re not reopening a criminal investigation into him,” Blanche told…
· Fed raises interest rates in defiance of Trump from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Trump spares Kevin Warsh from criticism despite Fed rate hike from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Fed's Barr says future interest rate hikes 'likely' needed to tame inflation from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Trump rips ‘hostile’ Fed board after interest rate hike but defends Warsh from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Powell cleared in handling of Fed renovations from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· Trump says he asked Blanche to 'study' Fed watchdog report that cleared Powell from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.