The U.S. Department of Justice has recently launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The federal prosecutor's office in the District of Columbia is focusing on two areas: one is the renovation project of the Federal Reserve Washington headquarters; the other is whether Powell's statements during congressional testimony were misleading.

The Department of Justice subsequently issued a grand jury subpoena to the Federal Reserve and hinted at the possibility of initiating criminal proceedings. This move is quite rare in the history of central banks. Powell responded by stating that this is an unprecedented political pressure campaign. For market participants, such political volatility often increases policy uncertainty, thereby affecting global liquidity expectations and risk asset allocation.