Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that the Justice Department’s targeting of Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell “better be real” and “better be serious,” raising concerns about “political interference” in monetary policy, Punchbowl News reports.

Thune is the highest-ranking Republican to raise concerns about the unprecedented criminal investigation of the Fed chair.

Financial Times: Top Republicans denounce justice department’s criminal probe into Fed chair Jay Powell.

“A perturbed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told President Trump late Sunday that the federal investigation into the Federal Reserve chair ‘made a mess’ and could be bad for financial markets,” Axios reports.

“Sunday night, Trump appeared to distance himself from the investigation of Fed chair Jerome Powell for allegedly misrepresenting the costs of renovations to the Federal Reserve’s headquarters in DC.”

“The Trump administration’s decision to open a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is backfiring,” Punchbowl News reports.

“GOP lawmakers and former Federal Reserve officials are rallying to show support for Powell and the Fed’s role as an independent regulator of the U.S. economy. And it’s not just rank-and-file Republicans coming to Powell’s defense.”

“House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-AR), whose panel oversees the Federal Reserve and Wall Street, said he believes that the criminal charges are ‘an unnecessary distraction’ when policy makers should be focused on ‘the nation’s economy.'”

Politico: “The fresh-out-of-a-job former New York City mayor blew back into his hometown Monday in between jaunts to Dubai, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Dallas to promote his new crypto coin with a cause.”

“Proceeds from the $NYC Token will go toward combating antisemitism and anti-Americanism, he said.”

“Jerome Powell wanted to avoid a fight. That had long been his approach to handling President Trump and his relentless attacks on the Federal Reserve, which in his second term had taken on heightened intensity,” the New York Times reports.

“Between an executive order wresting more control over the Fed’s oversight of Wall Street to Mr. Trump’s attempt to oust a sitting member of the policy-setting board of governors, the Fed had stuck to a time-tested strategy: Avoid provoking the president. At times, that meant bending to meet his demands in areas like climate change and bank regulation. But Mr. Powell, the Fed chair, drew the line when it came to protecting the central bank’s autonomy to set interest rates.”

“A criminal investigation into whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress… has prompted the central bank to cast aside that approach and instead fight, the outcome of which could determine whether the Fed remains an independent entity.”

Washington Post: Former Fed chiefs rebuke Justice Department probe into Fed chair.