EXCLUSIVE: Fed Grants Pro-Trump Investment Firm’s Request After Legal Battle

The Federal Reserve complied with a pro-Trump investment firm’s request it reveal which board members voted to keep the most recent meeting closed to the public.

Azoria Capital applied for a temporary restraining order requiring the Federal Open Market Committee to allow the public to watch its meeting at the end of July. A judge denied the request, saying the Federal Open Market Committee is not an agency as defined by the government in the Sunshine Act, so was exempt from it.

However, the Fed’s counsel admitted that the committee’s meeting would be held jointly with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, which is an agency subject to the Sunshine Act.

As a result, Azoria Capital’s lawyers from the conservative law firm Lex Politica penned a letter to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and members of the Board of Governors making two demands: that the board immediately publish its vote to close the meeting to the public and that the board release a transcript of the joint meeting.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s attorney confirmed in writing that Powell has complied with the request to publish a vote of which board members voted to close the July 29–30 meeting.

“The public now knows exactly who on the Board of Governors voted to close the meeting and deny Americans access to the Fed’s deliberations,” said James Fishback, founder and CEO of Azoria, the investment firm behind the anti-DEI exchange-traded fund known as the Azoria 500 Meritocracy Fund.

“This vote to hold the meeting behind closed doors is unacceptable—especially when many believe that the Fed’s decision to keep rates near 20-year highs at their July meeting was not based on fundamental economic data,” Fishback told The Daily Signal, “but was an attempt to undermine President Trump and his economic agenda.”

However, the legal battle continues, as Powell did not release the transcript of the meeting, in which the board voted against lowering interest rates despite the dissent of two governors.

“Our position is that Powell cannot repeatedly invoke the same narrow exemption at every monetary policy meeting to deny the public its legal right to know how the Federal Reserve Board of Governors is making decisions—decisions which influence the cost of every mortgage, credit card bill, and small business loan in America,” Fishback said.

If the Fed doesn’t release the transcript soon, Fishback will ramp up his battle against Powell, he said.

“The American public is right to be suspicious of the Fed’s actions when the Fed slams the door shut on Americans who simply want to know what they are doing and why,” Fishback said. “If Powell does not release the transcript in the coming days, Azoria will consider all possible legal avenues in its continued fight to bring transparency and accountability to the Federal Reserve on behalf of all Americans.”

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