NPR. As loyal indicator listeners almost certainly saw this weekend, federal reserve chair Jerome

Powell posted arguably the most viral front-to-camera video ever in central bank history.

Powell revealed that the Fed had been threatened with criminal charges.

These charges are ostensibly about renovations to Fed buildings.

But Powell was crystal clear with what he believes this investigation is really about.

The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates

based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences

of the president.

This is the strongest we've ever heard Jerome Powell speak about President Trump's patterns

of attacks on the Fed.

He's paid to be boring and not spook the markets. And so over the last year, Powell has been relatively restrained in public.

You know, maybe he's a little annoyed, but he sticks to the matters at hand. I'd say terse.

So to drop a weekend video calling out the administration's threats on Fed independence, this is huge.

And we're going to get into it.

This is The Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong.

And I'm Darren Woods. Today on the show, what led to the administration's criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell. How strong is it? And what could

come next? There's a lot going on right now. Mounting economic inequality, threats to democracy,

environmental disaster, the sour stench of chaos in the air. I'm Brooke Gladstone, host of WNYC's On the Media.

Want to understand the reasons and the meanings of the narratives that led us here and maybe how to

head them off at the pass? That's on the media's specialty. Take a listen wherever you get your

podcasts. At Radio Lab wherever you get your podcasts.

At Radio Lab, we love nothing more than nerding out about science, neuroscience, chemistry.

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