2026年3月24日 / 美国东部时间晚上11:54 / 美联社
根据一份密封听证会的庭审记录，本月早些时候，在一位持怀疑态度的法官询问下，联邦检察官私下承认，司法部对美联储25亿美元翻新项目的调查未发现任何犯罪证据。
庭审记录显示，这一承认由美国助理检察官安德鲁·马苏科（Andrew Massucco）在3月3日一次闭门听证会上作出。八天后，首席法官詹姆斯·博阿斯伯格（James Boasberg）驳回了向美联储发出的政府传票，给政府调查造成了沉重打击。
博阿斯伯格在3月11日的裁决中表示，政府几乎没有提供任何证据怀疑美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔（Jerome Powell）存在犯罪行为。这位由民主党总统巴拉克·奥巴马提名的法官还称，检察官对传票的辩护理由”薄弱且缺乏依据”。
在早些时候的听证会上，博阿斯伯格要求美国检察官办公室（Jeanine Pirro办公室）的检察官具体说明任何与鲍威尔就翻新项目或建筑工程本身作证相关的欺诈或犯罪不当行为证据。
“那么（鲍威尔）在国会面前说了什么虚假陈述？”法官根据庭审记录问马苏科。
“嗯，我的第一个回答是我们不知道，”马苏科回答，他是皮罗（Jeanine Pirro）华盛顿办公室刑事部门的负责人。”不过，他提到的某些方面引起了我们的担忧。”
“好的，”法官继续问道，”那么关于翻新工程的欺诈或犯罪不当行为有什么证据呢？”
“同样，目前我们还不清楚。不过，有12亿美元的原因让我们必须深入调查，”马苏科提到项目成本超支金额时表示。
《华盛顿邮报》率先报道了听证会上的这些细节。
这项调查已经推迟了参议院对特朗普总统提名的凯文·沃什（Kevin Warsh）的考虑，沃什将在5月15日鲍威尔任期结束时接替他。如果尚未批准任何替代人选，鲍威尔可以在任期结束后继续担任主席。
“大量证据表明，政府向美联储董事会发出传票是为了向其主席施压，使其投票支持降低利率或辞职，”法官写道。
马苏科在闭门听证会上表示，没有证据表明检察官发出大陪审团传票的动机”除了试图查明事实真相外还有其他目的”。
“我们有权这样做，”他补充道。
在3月3日听证会上代表美联储理事会的律师罗伯特·赫尔（Robert Hur）表示，传票是一场施压运动的一部分，目的是支持特朗普降低利率的努力。
“他显然有很强的政治动机来试图降低利率，但由于国会在货币政策制定方面为美联储独立性建立的保障措施，他无法做到这一点，”赫尔向法官表示。
皮罗（前福克斯新闻主持人，特朗普提名领导美国最大的美国检察官办公室）嘲笑博阿斯伯格是”激进法官”，称他”削弱了大陪审团调查犯罪的能力”。她誓言将对其决定提出上诉。
“这是错误的，并且没有法律依据，”她本月早些时候在新闻发布会上表示。
美联储发言人周二拒绝置评。
皮罗办公室的调查集中在去年6月鲍威尔在参议院银行委员会的简短证词上，当时他被问及美联储大规模建筑翻新工程的成本超支问题。美联储最新估计显示，当前25亿美元的项目成本比2022年19亿美元的估计高出约6亿美元（原文为600 million，此处应为6亿美元，因上下文25亿比19亿差6亿）。
在裁决中，博阿斯伯格指出，司法部拒绝了他提出的让政府直接向他提交针对鲍威尔的进一步证据的提议，这样他们就不必向美联储或鲍威尔透露自己的底牌。
“因此，法院没有可信的理由认为政府正在调查可疑事实，而是在针对一位不受欢迎的官员，”法官写道。
Justice Department found no evidence of a crime in Federal Reserve renovation project, prosecutor admits
March 24, 2026 / 11:54 PM EDT / AP
The Justice Department’s investigation of a $2.5 billion renovation project at the Federal Reserve didn’t find any evidence of a crime, a federal prosecutor privately conceded under questioning by a skeptical judge earlier this month, according to a transcript of the sealed hearing.
That admission by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Massucco came during a March 3 hearing that was closed to the public, the transcript shows. Eight days later, Chief Judge James Boasberg quashed government subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve, dealing a severe blow to the government’s investigation.
In his March 11 ruling, Boasberg said the government had produced “essentially zero evidence” to suspect Fed Chair Jerome Powell of a crime. The judge, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, also described prosecutors’ justification for the subpoenas as “thin and unsubstantiated.”
During the earlier hearing, Boasberg asked the prosecutor from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office to specify any evidence of fraud or criminal misconduct related to Powell’s testimony about the renovation project or the construction work itself.
“So what false statements did (Powell) make before Congress?” the judge asked Massucco, according to the transcript.
“Well, we don’t know is my first answer,” replied Massucco, chief of the criminal division for Pirro’s Washington office. “However, there are certain areas that he addressed that caused concern.”
“Okay,” the judge continued. “And then what evidence is there of fraud or criminal misconduct in relation to the renovations?”
“Again, we do not know at this time. However, there are 1.2 billion reasons for us to look into it,” Massucco said, referring to the amount of the project’s cost overruns.
The Washington Post was the first to report on the details of the hearing from the transcript.
The investigation has delayed Senate consideration of Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s pick to replace Powell when his term ends May 15. Powell can remain as chair past that date if no replacement has been approved.
“A mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning,” the judge wrote.
Massucco said during the sealed hearing that there is no evidence that prosecutors’ motive for the grand jury subpoenas “is anything other than trying to find the truth of the matter.”
“And we have a right to do that,” he added.
Robert Hur, an attorney who represented the Federal Reserve board of governors at the March 3 hearing, said the subpoenas are part of a pressure campaign to support Mr. Trump’s push for lower interest rates.
“He clearly has very strong political motives to try to get lower interest rates, but because of the safeguards that have been erected by Congress around the Federal Reserve’s independence when it comes to setting monetary policy, he can’t get it,” Hur told the judge.
Pirro, a former Fox News host who was Mr. Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s largest U.S. Attorney’s office, derided Boasberg as an “activist judge” and claimed he had “neutered the grand jury’s ability to investigate crime.” She vowed to appeal his decision.
“This is wrong and it is without legal authority,” she said at a news conference earlier this month.
A Fed spokesperson declined to comment Tuesday.
The investigation by Pirro’s office centered on brief testimony last June by Powell before the Senate Banking Committee, when he was asked about cost overruns on the Fed’s extensive building renovations. The most recent estimates from the Fed suggest the current estimated cost of $2.5 billion is about $600 million higher than a 2022 estimate of $1.9 billion.
In his ruling, Boasberg said the Justice Department rejected his offer to let the government submit further evidence against Powell directly to him, so that they wouldn’t have to tip their hand to the Fed or Powell.
“The Court is thus left with no credible reason to think that the Government is investigating suspicious facts as opposed to targeting a disfavored official,” the judge wrote.
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