Jeanine Pirro is sworn in as the new interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia during a ceremony hosted by US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, US on May 28, 2025.
Leah Millis | reuters
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro appeared Sunday to abandon plans to appeal an adverse ruling in her efforts to criminally investigate Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Pirro has long said he plans to ask a higher court to review recent decisions by District of Columbia Chief Judge James Boasberg to quash his subpoenas to the feds. He has argued that the judge’s decision makes it difficult for him to conduct a grand jury investigation normally. His appeal was to be heard by Monday.
Pirro appeared to change his stance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Pirro said, “We are going to bring a motion to vacate Judge Boasberg’s order, because we believe it is extremely important for us as prosecutors that it sets a precedent to prevent us from going to a grand jury.”
The appeal sought to reinstate Pirro’s legal demand that the Feds hand over evidence related to cost overruns in renovating their building. By switching to a different legal strategy, Pirro is abandoning that demand.
Pirro’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
It was not immediately clear what exactly Pirro would be asking the court to vacate, or on what grounds.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean P. Murphy said, “A motion to vacate is essentially asking the judge to just pretend that nothing happened.”
Pirro recently filed such a motion to vacate the convictions of members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in cases related to the events of January 6, 2020. This proposal would expunge the convictions of those involved.
“The main difference is that I don’t think she stands to erase the record of DOJ losses in the feds investigation,” Murphy said.
The Fed declined to comment.
Boasberg ruled against pirou Because his office presented no specific evidence of wrongdoing, despite ample indications that the investigation was aimed at harassing Powell over her defiance of President Donald Trump’s demands that the Fed chief cut interest rates sharply.
“An overwhelming amount of evidence shows that the government issued these subpoenas to the board to pressure its chairman to vote for lower interest rates or to resign,” Boasberg wrote.
Appeals typically require approval from a top Justice Department official because they can create precedents that work against the DOJ. It was unclear whether Pirro ever got that sign-off.
The possibility of an appeal has been a controversial issue for the Feds because it contradicts Pirro’s claim that he has dropped his case. Powell said on Wednesday that he would remain on the Fed’s board after his term as chairman ends until he is confident that the legal threat to the Fed has been resolved.
Pirro has said she would reopen the investigation if she felt it was necessary and was awaiting a report from Fed Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Horowitz refused to commit to ending the investigation if no criminal wrongdoing was found.
Pirro said she wanted Horowitz to move forward because Boasberg had blocked his investigation. “You have the ability to talk to witnesses,” he said of Horowitz. “I have been barred from doing so, and we will continue to litigate this issue.”