From the New York Times, I'm Natalie Kittrowef. This is the Daily.

Even for an administration that has taken revenge to an extreme, the decision to open a criminal

investigation into Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has stunned

the worlds of business and politics.

Today, my colleagues Colby Smith and Glenn Thrush explain how the investigation came about,

the panic it unleashed, and why it might have made the Fed Chair stronger than ever.

It's Thursday, January 15th.

Glenn, Colby, welcome to the show.

It's great to have you here.

Thank you.

Thanks.

It's good to be back.

So for the past several months, we've been tracking this simmering conflict between President

Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Trump has been trying to push Powell for a while now to lower interest rates as fast as possible, and Powell has been resisting. And then in the past few days, really, that fight entered a new and unprecedented phase. Federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Powell, and that set off a firestorm

in Washington. You two have been covering this moment, Glenn, from your perch, as our Justice Department

reporter, Colby as our Fed reporter. And I want to start by asking you, Colby, to help us get up to speed on how exactly

we got from simmering conflict to this extremely tense moment. So it all centers around interest

rates. As you mentioned, Trump has been all over the Fed for not lowering barring costs as fast

as he would like. They've lowered interest rates three times over the Fed for not lowering borrowing costs as fast as he would like.

They've lowered interest rates three times over the course of three meetings, but it hasn't

been enough for the president.

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