Yellen pushes back on GOP ‘obstruction’ claims

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen pushed back against GOP charges she was impeding a congressional investigation.

In a letter sent to lawmakers Monday, Yellen defended the Fed’s refusal to hand over certain documents to House investigators, again reiterating that doing so could undermine an open criminal investigation underway by the Fed’s Inspector General and the Justice Department into a leak of sensitive Fed information.

{mosads}“Because this investigation is currently active, the OIG has indicated to us and to you that providing access at this time to records and information related to the OIG and Department of Justice’s investigation would risk jeopardizing that ongoing criminal investigation, and that the Department of Justice shares that concern,” she wrote.

The letter, sent to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) reiterates Yellen’s previous stance that the Fed would be unable to provide certain documents to lawmakers – a claim that Hensarling labeled as “willful obstruction” in a June 17 letter to Yellen. Hensarling’s panel subpoenaed the Fed for records in May, leading to Yellen’s refusal to comply citing the investgiation.

Yellen said she hopes the current probe will be wrapped up quickly, freeing her to comply with congressional requests.

But Hensarling effectively questioned whether the criminal probe, which had been previously closed and recently re-opened, only existed as a way to prevent lawmakers from gaining access to some documents. He argued in a recent letter to Yellen that the probe was only reopened after lawmakers began asking questions, spurred by no new information.

The dueling probes are looking into a 2012 leak of market-moving Fed information, after the advisory firm Medley Global detailed for clients the content of discussion one day before the Fed released its own meeting minutes.