A top Senate Republican has said Fed chair Jay Powell has not “committed a crime”, in a strong rebuke of the Trump administration’s probe into the central bank chief from a senior member of the president’s own party.
The remarks from Tim Scott, chair of the powerful Senate banking committee, are a blow to Donald Trump, who is facing criticism in the justice department’s investigation of Powell. The probe revolves around whether Powell misled the committee about a $2.5bn renovation of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, which is $700mn over budget.
“I found him to be inept at doing his job, but ineptness or being incompetent is not a criminal act,” Scott told Fox Business Network on Wednesday, in his first public comments since the investigation was revealed by Powell last month.