Prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office visited Federal Reserve headquarters unannounced Tuesday and sought access to the building’s ongoing renovations, which are the subject of a months-long criminal investigation, according to a source and a letter reviewed by CBS News. Two prosecutors and an investigator were denied entry and given contact information for the Fed’s legal team.
The unannounced visit is highly unorthodox. A similar move by Pirro’s predecessor to visit New York Attorney General Letitia James’s home prompted allegations from James’ attorney that the office violated rules of professional conduct and Justice Department policies requiring fair and even-handed treatment in criminal cases.
The investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell focuses on a costly, years-long renovation of the Fed’s headquarters and was opened by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. in November, court filings show. The Fed is not funded through tax dollars. In January, Powell revealed the Federal Reserve had received grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department as part of the probe and said the subpoenas threatened a criminal indictment related to his June 2025 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. Powell said the investigation concerned his testimony about the renovation project, which has cost about $2.5 billion so far. He has argued the probe is an effort to intimidate the Fed. No criminal charges have been filed.
In March, Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for D.C. quashed the subpoenas, finding they were a pretext to pressure Powell to vote for lower interest rates or resign. Boasberg wrote that the government had offered no evidence Powell committed any crime beyond displeasing the president and described the subpoenas as “mere pretexts.” The Justice Department asked Boasberg to reconsider, and he denied that request earlier this month.
In a letter to the prosecutors reviewed by CBS News, the Fed’s outside counsel, Robert Hur, said the men arrived without prior notice, told staff they wanted to “check on progress” of the renovations, and asked for a “tour” of the site. Hur wrote that Boasberg had concluded the prosecutors’ interest in the renovation was pretextual and said the courts provide the avenue to challenge that finding, not an attempt to circumvent it. Hur previously served as special counsel who investigated classified documents handled by President Biden and found no criminal charges were warranted.
Pirro said in a statement to CBS News, “Any construction project that has cost overruns of almost 80% over the original construction budget deserves some serious review. And these people are in charge of monetary policy in the United States?” A Fed spokesperson declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the surprise visit.
The prosecutors involved were Carlton Davis and Steven Vandervelden, allies of Pirro who were part of a failed effort to indict six sitting congressional Democrats; a grand jury declined to bring charges in that matter. The investigator who accompanied them, Matthew Fox-Moles, is assigned to a special prosecutions team in Pirro’s office, a source said.
Last summer, former President Trump toured the Fed’s renovation project with Powell, with both donning hard hats and publicly disputing the project’s cost overruns. The criminal probe has complicated Trump’s effort to replace Powell as Fed chair when his term ends; Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has said he will not vote to advance Trump’s nominee, Kevin Warsh, until the Justice Department’s investigation concludes.