CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Stunned by ‘Explosive’ Trump Clap-Back From Fed Chair Powell

CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins expressed astonishment at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s “explosive” response to the threat of criminal charges by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.

Trump has habitually attacked Powell and constantly pressured him to lower interest rates. Now, the Fed chair is facing an investigation over the renovation of Federal Reserve buildings and whether he lied to Congress about the project.

Powell broke the news of a criminal probe on Sunday night, minutes before a New York Times report on the investigation was published. He posted a video to the Federal Reserve website and on social media, accusing Trump of retribution:

This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It is not about Congress’s oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.

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.

On Monday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins

KAITLAN COLLINS: An extraordinary standoff is playing out tonight, unlike anything that we’ve seen in modern American history.

Jerome Powell, who is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, publicly disclosed, last night, that he is under investigation by the Department of Justice. A revelation delivered not by prosecutors, but by Powell himself, in a recorded statement that directly ties this threat of criminal charges to the Fed’s refusal, as an independent agency, to do what the President wants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, CHAIR, FEDERAL RESERVE OF THE UNITED STATES: This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings.

The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I just want to take a second to note how extraordinary that statement alone truly is. Jerome Powell, or any Fed chair for that matter, rarely speaks. And when the Fed chair does speak, it’s almost always in dry, technical, measured statements about the Fed’s decision-making and the state of the economy.

That’s what makes Powell’s recorded statement that much more explosive, not only revealing that the Department of Justice is investigating him, but also saying that the investigation is a sham, and that the real reason for it is because the President is looking for a pretext to fire him for cause. That’s because Jay Powell hasn’t cut interest rates as fast or as deep as the President wants.

And the President who of course, knows a thing or two about building projects swelling in costs in Washington, he’s been laying the groundwork, for months, including this attempt, what happened between the two of them, back in July.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It looks like it’s about $3.1 billion. It went up a little bit. Or a lot. So the 2.7 is now 3.1, and–

POWELL: I’m not aware of that, Mr. President.

TRUMP: Yes, it just came out.

POWELL: Yes, and I have — I haven’t heard that from anybody at the Fed.

You just added — you just added in a third building, is what that is. That’s a third building included in–

TRUMP: Well, I know, but it’s — it’s a building that’s being built.

POWELL: No, it’s been — it was built five years ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, a reminder that President Trump handpicked Jay Powell for this job, just like he’s going to pick Powell’s replacement when his term is up in May.

And if anyone has questions about how the Federal Reserve is spending its money, which is at the heart of allegedly what is being investigated here, the Fed does publish its balance sheet, online, every week.

Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.