Jeanine Pirro said Wednesday she will appeal a federal court ruling that blocked her criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve, keeping alive a legal fight over alleged cost overruns tied to renovations at two historic Fed buildings in Washington.
"I am going forward. We are appealing the decision of Judge Boasberg," Pirro said, adding, "The cost overruns on that building are well over a billion dollars. This investigation continues." The total renovation cost is about $2.5 billion, and Pirro said the probe remains focused on why the project grew so expensive.
The case has moved quickly since March, when Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg quashed the grand jury subpoenas. Boasberg later rejected Pirro's motion for reconsideration on April 3 and said there was a "mountain of evidence" that the subpoenas' purpose was to exert pressure on the Fed's board of governors. Justice Department guidelines allowed a 30-day period to file a notice of appeal after that ruling.
Pirro challenged the legal basis for the court's intervention and cited Supreme Court precedent. "The idea that a judge can stand at the door of a grand jury and tell a prosecutor, 'You're not allowed to go in,' when the United States Supreme Court has said you can go into a grand jury based on rumors and suspicion, is an order that we think must be appealed," she said.
The dispute matters now because it is complicating the path forward for Kevin Warsh, Trump's pick to succeed Jerome Powell when his term as Fed chair expires May 15. The Senate Banking Committee held Warsh's confirmation hearing on Tuesday, but the Senate is in recess during the week of May 4, leaving the committee without its first opening to advance the nomination until the following week.
Powell has said he intends to remain as chair until the investigation concludes with "transparency and finality," while several Republican members of the Banking Committee, including Sen. Tim Scott, have said they do not believe he committed a crime. Sen. Thom Tillis said he will not relent until the Justice Department abandons the probe, and Trump said earlier this week, "We have to find out why a small building cost close to $4 billion," during an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box." The appeal means the fight over the Fed renovation probe is still alive just as the central bank's leadership clock is running down.
