Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen confirmed Monday that the Department of Justice is involved in an investigation of a 2012 leak of confidential information from a monetary policy meeting.
“As you are aware, the board’s Inspector General and the Department of Justice are in the midst of an investigation into this matter,” Yellen said in a letter addressed to House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and the chairman of the panel’s subcommittee on oversight, Sean Duffy, R-Wis.
The news of the letter was first reported Monday by Bloomberg. Questions about the source of the leak have been dogging the Fed for months as members of Congress have asked for answers.
The leak entailed details of the Fed’s September 2012 monetary policy committee meeting showing up in an investment intelligence company’s newsletter before they were supposed to be public.
Yellen said in the letter that the names of Fed officials who had contact with the company would be given to Congress.
The Fed had previously disclosed some findings of an internal probe into the leak. It reported that Fed officials had inappropriately disclosed information to Wall Street Journal reporter Jon Hilsenrath, and that further details of the meeting had shown up in the investment newsletter published by Medley Global Advisors by unknown means.
