‘What Is the Case?’ Ben Shapiro Puzzled By Trump DOJ Targeting Jerome Powell

Ben Shapiro expressed skepticism over President Donald Trump’s Justice Department opening a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, saying he’s open to the idea the probe is legit — but he wants to hear some good evidence for it.

The pro-Trump pundit explained to his podcast listeners on Monday the investigation is focused on Powell’s multi-year renovation of the Fed building.

Trump fumed last month that the project’s budget was north of $4 billion now — about $1.5 billion more than projected. Shapiro said even if that is true, it does not necessarily mean Powell did something illegal.

“Here is my question — obviously Powell could have said things that were accurate at the time and later became inaccurate because the facts on the ground change — is there evidence Powell was stealing money or embezzling?” Shapiro asked. “What is the case here?”

He also said it looked bad that Trump appeared to be targeting people at the Fed for not agreeing with him on interest rates. The president has routinely bashed Powell for not moving quickly enough in his view to cut rates and has branded him with the nickname “Too Late.”

“This is bad policy, you should not be targeting people based on specious investigations — if it turns out it’s specious,” Shapiro said.

The Daily Wire star admitted he did not know the “full case” against Powell and would wait for more details.

But “if it turns out that what they’re upset at [Powell] about has little to do with the actual [renovation] of the Federal Reserve and a lot to do with his policy with regard to interest rates,” then that is not good, Shapiro said.

Powell on Sunday night said he was indeed being targeted because he disagreed with Trump on rates, not because of the renovation.

Shapiro added, “Again, just to put it out there, the DOJ should not be used for political purposes, whether you are targeting Donald J. Trump and your name is Joseph R. Biden or whether you are targeting Jerome Powell and your name is President Donald J. Trump.”

Watch above.