A federal judge has blocked subpoenas issued as part of a probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, stating that they were intended to pressure him into voting for lower interest rates or resigning. The subpoenas sought records about recent renovations of the Board’s buildings and testimony delivered to Congress that briefly discussed these. Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, found that the government's justifications were so thin and unsubstantiated that the subpoenas were pretextual. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro called the ruling the "anthesis of American justice" and "unprecedented" in light of the administration's threats and ongoing pressure.