Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said Monday that President Donald Trump faces a significant issue as his political adversaries repeatedly come under Department of Justice (DOJ) scrutiny.
O’Reilly made the remarks on NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert” while discussing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who claimed on Sunday that a criminal perjury investigation into him was retaliation for disagreements over interest rate policy. O’Reilly said the probe appeared to fit a broader pattern that could be perceived as “totalitarian,” while stressing that each case should be evaluated individually.
“American people don’t know who Jerome Powell is. They don’t know what the Fed does. They don’t care about it,” O’Reilly said. “It’s not a big issue in their mind. What is a big issue is the recurring theme that if the president of the United States doesn’t like you, the FBI is going to show up. That’s a recurring theme.”
Host Leland Vittert asked whether the pattern benefited Trump.
“No, of course not. Because Americans don’t want a totalitarian, ‘If you don’t see it my way, I’m going to try to throw you in prison.’ That’s not what we do here,” O’Reilly said. “However, it should be a case-by-case basis. Say Mr. Powell, for some reason vastly misled the country about how much the dopey building cost. He should be held to account.”
The investigation into Powell centers around the renovation costs for the Federal Reserve headquarters, which greatly exceeded previous estimates of $2.5 billion. It followed Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna referring Powell to the DOJ on perjury allegations in July over his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June.
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Trump has privately voiced repeated frustrations with Attorney General Pam Bondi for failing to execute his agenda, according to a Wall Street Journal report published on Monday. The president has expressed particular anger over the DOJ’s inability to keep high-profile cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James alive after a judge dismissed the charges, citing an allegedly improper appointment.
Trump has also floated potentially appointing special counsels as he seeks swifter legal action against his adversaries, according to the Journal. However, he expressed support for Bondi in a Friday statement to the outlet.
“Pam is doing an excellent job. She has been my friend for many years,” the president said. “Tremendous progress is being made against radical left lunatics who are good at only one thing, cheating in elections and the crimes they commit.”
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