It's Wednesday, January the 14th, 2026, and this is the Daily Article podcast from Denison Forum.

I'm Chris Elkins, narrating today's daily article written by author and friend, Dr. Jim Denison.

There is anger on both sides of the aisle this morning.

The right is angry with former

President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after they refused

to comply yesterday with a congressional subpoena to testify in an investigation into Jeffrey

Epstein. They published a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, calling his committee's attempts, quote, legally invalid.

In response, Mr. Comer said he'll begin contempt of Congress proceedings against them next week.

The left is angry with the Trump administration after the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell.

Prosecutors are looking into the central bank's renovation of its Washington headquarters

and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project.

However, critics believe the action is intended by the administration to pressure the central bank to aggressively cut interest rates.

Whatever are partisan beliefs, both stories illustrate the significance of checks and balances in a democracy.

Congress must be able to investigate current and former presidents so as to hold them accountable to the law.

The Federal Reserve was similarly created by Congress in 1913 as an independent agency

so it could set interest rates without political interference from Congress or the White House.

According to the Brookings Institution, quote,

Central banks in nearly all major capitalist democracies are similarly insulated, end quote.

The article explains that politicians could otherwise lower interest rates now at the expense of greater inflation in the future, harming the overall economy.

Forging systems of accountability is not only politically wise, but

biblically realistic. The psalmist lamented in Psalm 10 verses 3 through 4 and verse 6,

the wicked boast of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for his gain curses and

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