Firestorm erupts as Trump admin ridiculed after admitting lack of evidence

The U.S. Department of Justice does not have evidence of wrongdoing in its criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, a top deputy to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro admitted in a closed-door hearing.

The Washington Post reported that the admission "undercuts President Donald Trump’s claim that 'there is criminality' in the $2.5 billion overhaul of the Fed’s headquarters," a renovation the president has claimed is costing $4 billion.

Pirro's prosecutors are probing whether the project's cost overruns amount to fraud, and whether Chairman Powell gave false testimony to the Senate Banking Committee.

G.A. Massucco-LaTaif, chief of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C., said that Justice Department lawyers “do not know at this time” what evidence there is of fraud or criminal misconduct, but argued that the project was $1.2 billion over budget and that “it doesn’t seem right.”

Massucco-LaTaif also told Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg that they "don't know" what statements Powell made were false, but said that some statements were cause for concern.

"Attorneys for the Fed and the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. battled over the legality of two grand jury subpoenas at the center of the investigation," the Post reported. "Both subpoenas were quashed this month by a federal judge, who described them as an illegal effort by the Trump administration to pressure Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell to lower interest rates or resign from the independent central bank."

Alan Tonelson, who writes about economics and national security, called the prosecutor's admission a "Big embarrassment for Trump."

"Another Trump Team retribution bungle," remarked USA Today columnist Chris Brennan.

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