Prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office made an unannounced visit to Federal Reserve headquarters on Tuesday seeking access to the building’s renovation site, which is the focus of a long-running criminal inquiry, a source and a letter reviewed by CBS News say. Two prosecutors and an investigator were turned away and given contact information for the Fed’s legal team.
The surprise visit is highly unusual. The report notes a similar unannounced appearance by Pirro’s predecessor at the home of New York Attorney General Letitia James drew allegations that the office had breached professional conduct rules and Justice Department policies that require fair and even-handed treatment in criminal matters.
The D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office opened the investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in November, according to court filings. The probe centers on a multi-year, costly renovation of Federal Reserve headquarters that has incurred roughly $2.5 billion in expenses so far; the Fed is not funded through tax dollars. In January, Powell disclosed that the Fed had received grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department tied to the investigation and said the subpoenas raised the prospect of a criminal indictment related to his June 2025 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. Powell has maintained the investigation is intended to intimidate the Fed. No criminal charges have been filed.
In March, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg quashed the subpoenas, concluding they were a pretext to pressure Powell to change his policy views or step down, and saying the government offered no evidence Powell committed a crime beyond displeasing the president. The Justice Department asked Boasberg to reconsider, and he denied that request earlier this month.
In a letter to the visiting prosecutors reviewed by CBS News, the Fed’s outside counsel Robert Hur wrote that the men arrived without prior notice, told staff they wished to “check on progress” and requested a tour of the renovation. Hur noted Boasberg’s finding that the prosecutors’ interest in the project was pretextual and said courts, not unannounced visits, are the proper channel to dispute that ruling. Hur previously served as special counsel in a probe of classified documents handled by President Biden and recommended no criminal charges in that matter.
Pirro told CBS News that projects with cost overruns of nearly 80% over the original budget warrant scrutiny and questioned whether officials overseeing monetary policy should be exempt. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the surprise visit.
CBS News identified the prosecutors as Carlton Davis and Steven Vandervelden, allies of Pirro who were involved in a failed effort to indict six sitting congressional Democrats that a grand jury did not advance. The accompanying investigator was named as Matthew Fox-Moles, who is assigned to a special prosecutions team in Pirro’s office, a source said.
Last summer, former President Trump toured the Fed renovation with Powell, both wearing hard hats as they publicly disputed the project’s cost increases. The criminal inquiry 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 investigation concludes.