The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that former U.S. Federal Reserve leaders and some Republican politicians supported Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Monday, criticizing the Trump administration's criminal investigation as coercive. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that on Sunday, Mr. Powell released a video stating that the U.S. Department of Justice had issued subpoenas to the Fed, threatening a criminal indictment. The inquiry focuses on cost overruns for renovations at two Fed buildings in Washington and Mr. Powell's congressional testimony. However, Mr. Powell sees this as a pretext, as President Donald Trump has been pressuring him to exert more control over the independent central bank and encourage lower interest rates. A statement signed by 14 former central bankers, including all living former Fed chairs, excoriated the Trump administration. The investigation is a significant escalation in Mr. Trump's attempt to exert control over the Fed -- the world's most important central bank and the linchpin of global finance. Former Bank of Canada deputy governor Tim Lane says the biggest risk is that investors lose faith in a politically compromised Fed, causing cracks in the global financial system.