From PBS NewsHour.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Sunday pushed back against the Justice Department’s criminal probe into the central bank, saying the threat of charges is a "pretext" to undermine its independence.

"This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions or whether, instead, monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation," Powell said in a video.

The DOJ issued grand jury subpoenas to the Fed over Powell’s testimony last year before the Senate Banking Committee about the agency’s $2.5 billion renovation project.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Powell for not cutting interest rates quickly enough. Trump said Sunday that he didn’t know anything about the investigation into the Fed and Powell.

PBS News’ Liz Landers has more.

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