US Fed watchdog finds no criminal wrongdoing in Powell-era renovation costs

The Federal Reserve’s inspector general has found no grounds for a criminal referral or evidence of administrative misconduct tied to a costly United States central bank renovation project that became a focal point of President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The watchdog released its findings on Wednesday after reviewing the renovation of two venerable Fed buildings in Washington, DC. The project has run roughly $1bn over budget, bringing its estimated cost to about $2.4bn. “At no point during our evaluation did we find reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred requiring a referral to the US attorney general,” the inspector general said.