Written by Bryan Lutz, Editor at Dollarcollapse.com:
If you follow the whole story about the DOJ investigation don’t dismiss who benefits.
Here’s the whole story:
Renovation at the Federal Reserve’s Eccles Building have ballooned to $2.5 Billion. The project is $30 million over budget, years behind schedule, and losing relevance. Among recent investigations into fraud across the United States. The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the building renovations. They’ve subpoenaed some, and threatened Powell.
The New York Times reports:
Federal Prosecutors Open Investigation Into Fed Chair Powell
“The U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia has opened a criminal investigation into Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, over the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project, according to officials briefed on the situation.
“The inquiry, which includes an analysis of Mr. Powell’s public statements and an examination of spending records, was approved in November by Jeanine Pirro, a longtime ally of President Trump who was appointed to run the office last year, the officials said.”
Powell’s response in a nutshell, ” We’re keep calm and carrying on.”
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: https://t.co/5dfrkByGyX pic.twitter.com/O4ecNaYaGH
— Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) January 12, 2026
Last summer, Trump pretty much dedicated a whole media story arch around the project’s mismanagement even visiting the project himself. It was a display of Trump’s media management skills at their best. Take a look below… Who’s wearing hard hats?
The initial reaction by the mainstream media is that Trump wants control of the Federal Reserve, but I think Trump wants more. The DOJ investigation into spending at the Federal Reserve is more than a push to get Powell out, it’s one smaller step toward transitioning into more direct control of the money supply via the US Treasury. That first small step is making government debt more affordable. Tavi Costa shared the same facts on X yesterday morning.
Wild times.
Monetary policy is no longer about inflation or jobs.
It’s about one thing:
Making government debt affordable.
This has played out many times in history.
Debt only becomes a problem when interest costs reach extreme levels.
At 5–7% of GDP, policymakers lose… https://t.co/qPzpNR8lx4
— Otavio (Tavi) Costa (@TaviCosta) January 12, 2026
The second, bigger step is to transition toward a more centralized management of US debt by the US Treasury. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been very clear about his thoughts on the obsolescence of the Federal Reserve… and his willingness to follow whatever President Trump’s plans are.
Scott Bessent on the Federal Reserve:
"QE led to a two-tier economy, where either you were an asset holder or you were left behind. I called the Fed the ‘engine of inequality’." pic.twitter.com/5QqEjTVavO
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) December 23, 2025
Scott Bessent: “The Fed is turning into universal basic income for PhD economists. I don't know what they do. They're never right … If air traffic controllers did this, no one would get in an airplane." pic.twitter.com/DEXah2eh2a
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) December 21, 2025
Bessent on possibly replacing Powell as Fed Chair: “I'll do what the President wants” pic.twitter.com/i4CzqKNn6G
— OSZ (@OpenSourceZone) June 27, 2025
At first glance, the goal looks like Trump wants what the mainstream media assumes he wants…
AP News reports:
DOJ investigation of Fed Chair Powell sparks backlash, support for Fed independence
“The Trump administration’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared on Monday to be emboldening defenders of the U.S. central bank against the efforts of President Donald Trump to control the Fed.
The backlash reflected the bigger stakes of a contest about the fate of the Fed’s independence, the balance of power within the federal government, and the path of the U.S. economy. Trump has long publicly lashed out against Powell for not slashing the Fed’s benchmark interest rates to his liking, but the prospect of a criminal indictment was a step too far for an institution that has an outsized influence on both inflation and the job market.”
Trump wants more than “control”. There’s a good reason for Trump’s move. The King of Debt knows US debt levels are unsustainable. So, in addition to making US debt more affordable by lowering interest rates, he’s been working with Bessent to push US debt-backed stablecoins. Bessent believes there’s a $3 Trillion market for them…
Politico reports:
Bessent touts $3T stablecoin market as source for Treasury demand
“The U.S. Treasury expects the stablecoin market to drive $3 trillion in demand for U.S. dollars and Treasuries by the end of the decade, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday.
In a speech at the U.S. Treasury Market Conference, hosted at the Federal Reserve Board of New York, Bessent told policymakers and market participants that the growing stablecoin market will continue to drive demand for short-term Treasury bills.
“The stablecoin market, meanwhile, is valued around $300 billion and could grow tenfold by the end of the decade thanks to the innovation made possible by the GENIUS Act,” he said.”
Trump (and his family) have even more vested interest in the development of stablecoins. Yesterday, on the same day that Trump’s DOJ attack was announced, the Trump family announced their application for a national trust bank. They want to create a treasury for their $3.3 Billion supply of USD1 stablecoins, which their company, World Liberty Financial launched last year.
Reuters reports:
Trump-linked World Liberty Financial seeks license to launch trust bank
“World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by the family of President Donald Trump, said on Wednesday that its subsidiary has filed an application with U.S. banking regulators to establish a national trust bank focused on stablecoin operations.Several major cryptocurrency firms recently secured preliminary approval from federal banking authorities to establish national trust banks, marking a significant step in integrating digital assets into the regulated banking system.
WLTC Holdings filed a “de novo” application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a bank charter that would issue and custody USD1, a dollar-backed stablecoin that World Liberty launched last year.Crypto platform Anchorage Digital is currently the only digital asset company with a national trust bank charter. The OCC supervises a total of about 60 national trust banks.World Liberty Financial said that USD1 has reached over $3.3 billion in circulation in its first year.The proposed trust bank would offer stablecoin issuance and redemption, and custody services for digital assets.The company said it plans to allow conversion services between U.S. dollars and USD1 without fees at launch.World Liberty said the trust bank would be structured to comply with the recently passed GENIUS Act, which established a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins.The OCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the application.”
By undermining the Fed’s institutional authority and credibility, the administration creates political space to shift debt management, liquidity creation, and ultimately money issuance closer to the Treasury, where stablecoins, short-term bills, and executive influence intersect. Whether this strategy succeeds or backfires is still an open question, but the direction is clear: this is less about one chair, one building, or even one scandal, and more about redefining who will benefit from whatever is on the other side of unsustainable debt and a USD dwindling in fiat purchasing power.
