The U.S. Justice Department hit the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas Friday as part of a criminal probe into the central bank's leadership. The development, confirmed in a video statement over the weekend, marks an escalation in scrutiny of top Fed officials—a move that could ripple through financial markets. Given the Fed's outsized influence on interest rates, inflation expectations, and asset valuations across the board, this kind of institutional pressure adds another layer of uncertainty to the macroeconomic backdrop investors are already grappling with.