US Justice Department drops criminal probe of Fed chair Jerome Powell

The DOJ closed its investigation of Jerome Powell the same week Trump's nominee Kevin Warsh is clearing confirmation hurdles — Senator Tillis had blocked Warsh specifically until the 'bogus' probe was dropped. Lead with the sequencing: a criminal investigation used as a negotiation lever to unblock a Fed succession Trump wants. The reader should grasp how monetary-policy independence is being dismantled not through a statute change but through the threat-and-release of prosecution.