Judge blocks justice department from subpoenaing Fed chair Jerome Powell
A federal judge on Friday blocked the justice department from serving subpoenas to Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell in an inquiry purported to be about the management of the central bank’s renovation.Powell disclosed the surprise investigation on 11 January, and described the move as a threat to Fed independence and part of the Trump administration’s attempts to pressure the Fed to cut rates.The judge agreed, saying a “mountain of evidence” suggests the investigation was to pressure the Fed chair to lower rates or resign.“The government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual,” chief judge James Boasberg of the DC district court wrote on Friday.Tom Tillis, a Republican US senator, said on Friday an appeal by the Trump administration in a justice department case involving Powell “will only delay the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair”.
Tillis is part of a small group of Republicans who voiced opposition to the justice department’s investigation, and he has vowed to vote against Trump’s nomination of Warsh to replace Powell until Powell’s investigation is clear.Donald Trump has taken an increasingly hostile stance against Powell, who he appointed as Fed chair in 2018 during his first term.Over the last year, Trump has called Powell “stupid” and “too slow” for not bringing down interest rates, despite volatile market reactions to Trump’s attacks.Last summer, Trump accused Powell of “fraud” over renovations at the Fed headquarters in Washington DC that went over budget.Powell denied the allegations and called the justice department’s investigation a “pretext” for pressuring the Fed to lower rates.
While Warsh appears willing to help carry out Trump’s agenda for lower interest rates, Powell’s term ends in May and the chair has not announced whether he will remain on the Federal Open Mark Committee (FOMC), the Fed board that sets interest rates,Though it’s standard for a Fed chair to leave the board completely after a term ends, Powell’s seat on the board technically expires in January 2028,Meanwhile, the supreme court still has to rule on a case Fed governor Lisa Cook brought against Trump after the president tried to fire her last summer,At a court hearing in January, the court appeared resoundingly skeptical of giving the president so much power over the Fed given its influence over the economy,Trump alleged that Cook committed mortgage fraud by listing multiple properties as her primary residence on mortgage applications, which would get her a better rate.
Cook has denied the allegations, and her lawyers have pointed out that other government officials, including US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, have made the same discrepancies.A supreme court ruling on Cook’s case is expected by June.Reuters contributed reporting
New Green MP calls for tolerance and inclusivity in first Commons speech
Hannah Spencer, the Green MP who won last month’s Gorton and Denton byelection, has used her first speech in the Commons to call for tolerance and inclusivity, and to argue for more people from manual working backgrounds to be elected to parliament.Saying she wanted to “make hope normal again”, Spencer used a speech in a debate about International Women’s Day to say she had found out that some children had dressed up for events marking the day at their schools as “Hannah the plumber”, wearing overalls and copying her distinctive hairstyle.Spencer overturned a 13,000 Labour majority in the byelection, defeating the Reform candidate, Matthew Goodwin, and pushing Keir Starmer’s party to third.“Four weeks ago today I was in college, a plumber learning how to plaster,” she began on Thursday. “And today I’m in parliament, as an MP
Why the hell did Starmer pick Mandelson? The latest mug on the media round had no idea | John Crace
You could smell the fear among senior ministers on Wednesday night. No one wanted to be “that person”. The mug who would be sent out on the Thursday morning media round to answer the inevitable barrage of questions about Peter Mandelson. The equivalent to a two-hour-long walk of shame, and one entirely of the prime minister’s making.The Cabinet Office minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, thought he had all bases covered
Gerry Adams was leader of IRA, ex-police officers tell high court
Gerry Adams was the leader of the Irish Republican Army, two former police officers have told the high court.The former Sinn Féin leader is being sued for symbolic “vindicatory” damages of £1 each by John Clark, Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock, who allege he was culpable for three separate IRA bombings in which they were injured.Adams denies ever having been a member of the IRA or having sat on its army council.On Thursday, however, Tim Hanley, a retired detective for the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and a former RUC special branch intelligence officer anonymised as “witness B”, gave evidence that Adams had led the proscribed organisation.Hanley said in his written witness statement: “There is no question in my mind that Adams was the leader of the PIRA [Provisional IRA]; that’s what all the intelligence concluded
Starmer: It was my mistake appointing Mandelson – as it happened
Keir Starmer has told reporters in Northern Ireland that “it was me that made the mistake” in appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador “and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein”.It is the prime minister’s first comments on Mandelson since the release of the files relating to his appointment yesterday afternoon.He said:double quotation markThe release of the information shows what was known. That led to further questions being asked.Unfortunately, because of the Metropolitan police investigation, we can’t release that information yet
No 10 rejects claims it covered up Starmer’s role in Mandelson appointment
Downing Street has rejected accusations it covered up Keir Starmer’s role in appointing Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to Washington, after documents detailing the process showed no formal input from the prime minister.A day after 147 pages of documents were released by the government, No 10 also denied that the approval and vetting of Mandelson had been rushed through, saying normal procedures were followed.Starmer’s spokesperson reiterated the prime minister’s regret over the choice, which saw Mandelson sacked just nine months into the job after new details emerged about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted child sex offender.Speaking on a visit to Belfast on Thursday, Starmer said he had not known the extent of Mandelson’s links to Epstein. “But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was me that made a mistake, and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein, and I do that
Several Labour MPs in talks with Greens about defecting to the party, sources say
Several Labour MPs are in talks about defecting to the Greens, but are seeking guarantees they would be backed electorally by their new party, the Guardian has been told.Zack Polanski, the leader of the Greens in England and Wales, has said publicly that he has chatted to Labour MPs about the idea of switching sides, with the leftwing party enjoying a surge in membership and having overtaken Labour in some recent opinion polls.A series of other senior Green figures have confirmed that talks with several MPs are happening, but that none are yet at the stage of wanting to commit.“We already have a lot of experience of Labour councillors defecting to us, so this is not a surprise,” one said. “But it takes time
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