Federal Reserve

Trump Installs Economic Adviser on Federal Reserve Board in Unprecedented Dual Role

| Importance: 9/10

The Senate confirmed Stephen Miran to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in a 48-47 vote while he remained chair of Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers—marking the first time in the Fed’s 111-year history that a Board member simultaneously served as a presidential employee. Though …

Stephen Miran Donald Trump Federal Reserve Council of Economic Advisers institutional-capture federal-reserve conflicts-of-interest independence-erosion regulatory-capture
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DOJ Opens Criminal Investigation Into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for Alleged Mortgage Fraud

| Importance: 9/10

The U.S. Department of Justice formally opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on September 4, 2025, following a criminal referral from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte. Federal prosecutors issued grand jury subpoenas in Georgia and Michigan to …

Department of Justice Lisa Cook Pam Bondi Bill Pulte Ed Martin +2 more doj federal-reserve criminal-investigation political-prosecution institutional-capture +1 more
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DOJ Opens Criminal Investigation Against Federal Reserve Governor Following Trump Removal Attempt

| Importance: 9/10

The Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over alleged mortgage fraud, stemming from accusations that she listed two properties as primary residences on mortgage applications. The investigation follows Trump’s failed attempt to fire Cook …

Lisa Cook Department of Justice Donald Trump Bill Pulte Federal Reserve weaponization-of-justice selective-prosecution federal-reserve-independence political-retaliation
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FHFA Director Pulte Uses Mortgage Data to Target Fed Governor Lisa Cook

| Importance: 9/10

William Pulte, Trump’s FHFA Director, accesses private mortgage application data to accuse Fed Governor Lisa Cook of fraud for listing two properties as primary residences, part of pattern targeting Trump’s political opponents.

William Pulte lisa-cook federal-reserve fhfa department-of-justice william-pulte lisa-cook federal-reserve fhfa mortgage-fraud +5 more
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Trump Signs Executive Order Prohibiting 'Debanking' Based on Political Views

| Importance: 7/10

President Trump signed an executive order titled ‘Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans’ directing federal financial regulators to combat alleged ‘debanking’—the denial or termination of financial services based on political considerations. The order requires agencies …

Donald Trump White House Federal Reserve FDIC Office of the Comptroller of the Currency executive-power executive-orders financial-regulation institutional-capture
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Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler Resigns Early, Opening Seat for Trump Appointee

| Importance: 8/10

Federal Reserve Governor Adriana D. Kugler submitted her resignation on August 1, 2025, effective August 8, stepping down months before her term was scheduled to end in January 2026. In her resignation letter addressed to President Trump, Kugler offered no explanation for her early departure, …

Adriana Kugler Federal Reserve Donald Trump Jerome Powell institutional-capture federal-reserve political-pressure
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Deutsche Bank fined $150 million for processing Epstein transactions including payments to co-conspirators

| Importance: 8/10

Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $150 million in penalties for its failure to properly monitor Jeffrey Epstein’s banking activities. The bank processed hundreds of transactions for Epstein even after his 2008 conviction, including payments to potential co-conspirators and alleged victims. …

Deutsche Bank Jeffrey Epstein New York Department of Financial Services Federal Reserve Epstein co-conspirators +1 more money-laundering banking-violations regulatory-failure financial-crimes co-conspirator-payments +1 more
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U.S. Student Debt Surpasses $1.6 Trillion - 107% Increase in a Decade

| Importance: 8/10

U.S. student loan debt surpassed $1.6 trillion in June 2019 according to Federal Reserve data, representing a 107% increase from approximately $772 billion at the end of 2009 and affecting some 44 million American borrowers. The milestone crystallized the student debt crisis as a systemic economic …

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Federal Reserve Imposes Unprecedented Asset Cap on Wells Fargo

| Importance: 9/10

The Federal Reserve Board imposes an unprecedented enforcement action against Wells Fargo, restricting the bank from growing beyond its total asset size as of December 31, 2017—approximately $1.95 trillion. The asset cap represents the most severe punishment the Fed has imposed on a major bank in …

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Russian Agents Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin Attend NRA Annual Meeting, Meet Federal Reserve Vice Chairman

| Importance: 8/10

Russian operative Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin (member of Russia’s upper house of parliament and later sanctioned Russian official) traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to attend the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting from April 8-11, 2015. During this trip, Torshin met with …

Maria Butina Alexander Torshin National Rifle Association Stanley Fischer Federal Reserve russian-influence nra foreign-agents conservative-infiltration maria-butina +2 more
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GAO Audit Reveals Massive $16.1 Trillion in Secret Federal Reserve Crisis Loans

| Importance: 10/10

The first comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve revealed it secretly provided $16.1 trillion in emergency loans to major financial institutions during the 2008-2010 financial crisis, far exceeding the $700 billion TARP program. The audit exposed unprecedented scale of financial sector bailouts, …

Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke Citigroup Morgan Stanley Goldman Sachs +4 more financial-crisis secret-bailout monetary-capture federal-reserve regulatory-capture +1 more
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Asian Financial Crisis: Comprehensive Economic Transformation

| Importance: 9/10

By year’s end, the Asian Financial Crisis results in a fundamental restructuring of Southeast Asian economies. Millions lose jobs, local companies are sold at fire-sale prices to multinational corporations, and national economic policies are effectively rewritten under IMF and World Bank …

International Monetary Fund World Bank McKinsey & Company Multinational Corporations Federal Reserve asian-financial-crisis structural-adjustment imf economic-shock-therapy corporate-capture +1 more
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NationsBank-BankAmerica $62 Billion Merger Creates First Coast-to-Coast National Bank

| Importance: 7/10

NationsBank completes its $62 billion acquisition of BankAmerica Corporation, creating the first truly coast-to-coast national bank in U.S. history and taking the Bank of America name. The merger occurs just one year before the formal repeal of Glass-Steagall, demonstrating how banking consolidation …

NationsBank BankAmerica Federal Reserve Department of Justice Hugh McColl banking-consolidation mergers glass-steagall deregulation market-concentration +1 more
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Federal Reserve Grants Citigroup Temporary Waiver for Glass-Steagall Violation

| Importance: 8/10

In September 1998, the Federal Reserve Board granted Citicorp a temporary waiver allowing its merger with Travelers Group, effectively circumventing the Glass-Steagall Act and Bank Holding Company Act. This strategic regulatory maneuver created Citigroup, the first ‘universal bank’ since …

Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan Citicorp Travelers Group Sandy Weill +4 more federal-reserve citigroup glass-steagall-violation regulatory-waiver systemic-corruption +3 more
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Corporate Exploitation of Asian Financial Crisis Structural Adjustment

| Importance: 9/10

In June 1998, multinational financial institutions and international organizations systematically exploited the Asian Financial Crisis through coordinated structural adjustment policies. The IMF and World Bank engineered $100 billion in support packages that effectively restructured Asian economies, …

Goldman Sachs Citigroup McKinsey & Company IMF World Bank +2 more corporate-capture economic-intervention asset-stripping globalization imf-intervention +1 more
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Coordinated Regulatory Opposition Suppresses CFTC Derivatives Oversight Inquiry

| Importance: 9/10

Hours after CFTC Chair Brooksley Born issues a “Concept Release” requesting public comment on regulating the 9 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market, Fed Chair Alan Greenspan, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and SEC Chair Arthur Levitt issue an unprecedented joint statement …

Brooksley Born Alan Greenspan Robert Rubin Arthur Levitt CFTC +3 more derivatives-regulation regulatory-suppression brooksley-born greenspan rubin +2 more
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Thai Baht Collapse Ignites Systemic Southeast Asian Economic Crisis

| Importance: 9/10

Thailand’s decision to float the baht on July 2, 1997, triggered a catastrophic financial crisis across Southeast Asia. The currency collapsed from 25 baht per USD to 54 baht per USD by January 1998, causing systemic economic destabilization. The IMF and World Bank responded with a $20 billion …

Bank of Thailand IMF World Bank Federal Reserve Asian Development Bank asian-financial-crisis economic-shock imf-intervention structural-adjustment currency-devaluation +1 more
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