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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday of "politicizing" the institution as the Trump administration intensified its pressure campaign on the central bank.

President Donald Trump has railed against Powell for not moving faster to lower interest rates, and the Justice Department this month launched a criminal investigation into Powell -- a move former Fed chairs labeled an effort to undermine the central bank's independence.

Bessent on Wednesday criticized Powell's decision to attend a Supreme Court hearing on Trump's attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, calling his presence "a political statement."

"I am not sure why Chair Powell would go and support Governor Cook when the Fed has not undertaken an examination of whether she did in fact commit mortgage fraud," Bessent said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, citing allegations Cook has denied.

"The Fed should not be politicized. He is politicizing the Fed."

Trump has centered his attempt to remove Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the central bank's board of governors, on mortgage fraud allegations.

Cook has challenged the removal attempt, and the Supreme Court has allowed her to remain in her post until it hears her case. She has not been charged with a crime.

This month, Powell revealed that US prosecutors had opened an inquiry into him over an ongoing renovation of the Fed's headquarters.

Prosecutors sent the Fed subpoenas and threatened a criminal indictment relating to testimony Powell gave last summer about the remodeling.

Powell has dismissed the investigation as a politically motivated attempt to influence the central bank's interest rate setting, and the heads of major central banks have thrown their support behind him.

Powell's term as chairman of the Federal Reserve ends in May, though Trump has attempted to force him out over disagreements on interest rates.

Trump has said he would judge Powell's successor on whether the person immediately cuts rates.