Federal prosecutors’ criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is echoing the Department of Justice’s failed prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey, raising questions about whether the Powell inquiry will follow a similar trajectory and collapse under its own legal and political weight.

Powell disclosed Sunday that the DOJ has issued grand jury subpoenas tied to the Federal Reserve’s roughly $2.5 billion headquarters renovation and his testimony to Congress about the project, a revelation that immediately rattled markets and intensified concerns about political pressure on the central bank. Powell framed the investigation as retaliation for resisting President Donald Trump’s demands for faster and deeper interest rate cuts.