US prosecutors make surprise visit to Federal Reserve office

By Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - Prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office made a surprise visit on Tuesday to the Federal Reserve's headquarters renovation project, as the Trump administration continues its pressure campaign against the central bank.

The unscheduled visit was confirmed by a spokesperson for Pirro's office and was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

After speaking with construction workers, two of Pirro's deputies were advised they could not access the site without prior clearance and they were given the contact information for the Fed's legal staff, the Journal reported.

President Donald Trump has waged an aggressive campaign against top Fed officials, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell whose term ends in May, with the goal of lowering interest rates. The campaign has sparked political outcry and court challenges.

The Department of Justice has been investigating Powell for his oversight of the renovations to the central bank's headquarters in the nation's capital.

Though a federal judge has found the probe to be a thinly disguised effort to pressure Powell to lower interest rates or resign, the department has said it would appeal.

Former Fed chairs and ex-government economic policy leaders from both the Republican and Democratic parties have raised alarm about the Trump administration's probe.

The Fed could not be immediately reached for comment. The Journal reported that an outside lawyer for the Fed, Robert Hur, objected to Tuesday's visit in a letter to Pirro's office.

Hur was cited as saying that the prosecutors appeared "without prior notice" at the construction site, where they asked for a tour and said they wanted to check on the progress of the renovation project.

The independence of ?central banks in setting rates to control inflation is considered a central tenet of robust economic policy, insulating monetary policymakers from short-term political considerations to focus on longer-term efforts to keep prices stable.

Former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh has been nominated by Trump to head the central bank. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington, Editing by Ross Colvin and Thomas Derpinghaus)