Impeaching the Federal Reserve? It Happened in 1933… Here’s Why

Ever think that the criminals in government, or in the private banking interests, should be charged for their crimes?

Well, there have been those who have tried over the years, but their efforts were over-ridden or ignored. One such example is the impeachment proceedings of Rep. Louis T. McFadden, who charged dozens of Federal Reserve bankers with high crimes and misdemeanors at the height of the Great Depression.

However, his impeachment charges were never followed up on.

In this lengthy transcript from the House Congressional Record on May 23, 1933 during the 73rd Congress, Congressman Louis T. McFadden impeaches some 25 members, including a dozen from the Federal Reserve Board and 13 who were agents or representatives of the Federal Reserve bank branches located in various states throughout the country.

His numerous charges center around the manipulation of gold reserves and the issuance of currency, securities and other monetary instruments for “sinister purposes” – namely to ease, and then later contract, the money supply in the United States, which was a major cause of the Great Depression, and to bolster British and European gold supplies.

His evidence is based, in part, on testimony in the House with former Federal Reserve governor and board member Adolph Caspar Miller – who was in the first batch of appointees to the Federal Reserve governing system when it was established in 1914. Gov. Miller described on record an informal meeting between the heads of the three biggest central banks in Europe and the members of the Federal Reserve system and Treasury in the U.S. during which they discussed actions that were later taken which were “intended” to stabilize European currencies and upset U.S. currency.

Rep. McFadden, who proved to be a very controversial member of the House, charged that various acts of fraud and deception were taken and that gold, gold-backed money, and U.S. securities were used improperly and illegally to the tune of $80 billion (in 1930s money, so nearly $2 trillion today) during these acts.

McFadden did not survive re-election in 1934, and was under fire by numerous groups, particularly the money interests. He died of coronary thrombosis in 1936 at age 60.

“The Secrets of the Federal Reserve” by Eustace Mullins, “The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve” by G. Edward Griffin and “Wall Street and FDR” by Antony Sutton all provide a wealth of information about the detailed conspiracy that took place through the Federal Reserve and its agents of influence.

Original scans from the record are embedded below. The following transcript was typed feverishly from those scans, and may contain errors that can be caught by looking over the scans mentioned below.

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Mr. McFadden: Mr. Speaker, I raise to a question of constitutional privilege. On my own responsibility as a Member of the House of Representatives, I impeach Eugene Meyer, former member of the Federal Reserve Board; Edmund Platt, former member of the Federal Reserve Board; Eugene R. Black, member of the Federal Reserve Board and officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Adolph Caspar Miller, member of the Federal Reserve Board; Charles S. Hamlin, member of the Federal Reserve Board; George R. James, member of the Federal Reserve Board; Andrew W. Mellon, former Secretary of the United States Treasury and former ex-officio member of the Federal Reserve Board; Ogden L. Mills, former Secretary of the United States Treasury and former ex-officio member of the Federal Reserve Board; William H. Woodin, Secretary of the United States Treasury and ex-officio member of the Federal Reserve Board;  John W. Pole, former Comptroller of the Currency and former ex-officio member of the Federal Reserve Board; J.F.T. O’Connor, Comptroller of Currency and ex-officio member of the Federal Reserve Board; F.H. Curtiss, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; J.H. Case, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; R.L. Austin, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; George De Camp, former Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; L.B. Williams, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; W.W. Horton, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond; Oscar Newton, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; E.M. Stevens, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; J.S. Wood, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; J.N. Peyton, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; M.L. McClure, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City; C.C. Walsh, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Isaac B. Newton, Federal Reserve agent of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, jointly and severally, of high crimes and misdemeanors, and offer the following resolution:

Whereas I charge the aforesaid Eugene Meyer, Roy A. Young, Edmund Platt, Eugene R. Black, Adolph Caspar Miller, Charles B. Hamlin, George R. James, Andrew W. Mellon, Ogden L. Mills, William H. Woodin, John W. Pole, J.F.T. O’Connor, members of the Federal Reserve Board; F.H. Curtiss, J.H.  Case, R.L. Austin, George De Camp, L.B. Williams, W.W. Horton, Oscar Newton, E.M. Stevens, J.S. Wood, J.N. Peyton, M.L. McClure, C.C. Walsh, Isaac B. Newton, Federal Reserve agents, jointly and severally, with violations of the the Constitution and laws of the United States, and whereas I charge them with having taken funds from the United States Treasury which were not appropriated by the Congress of the United States, and I charge them with having unlawfully taken over $80,000,000,000 [$80 billion] from the United States Government in the year 1928, the said unlawful taking consisting of the unlawful creation of claims against the United States Treasury to the extent of over $80,000,000,000 in the year 1928, and I charge them with similar thefts committed in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1933, and in years previous to 1928, amounting to billions of dollars; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully created claims against the United States Treasury by unlawfully placing United States Government credit in specific amounts to the credit of foreign governments and foreign central banks to issue; private interests and commercial and private banks of the United States and foreign countries, and branches of foreign banks doing business in the United States, to the extent of billions of dollars; and with having made unlawful contracts in the name of the United States Government and the United States Treasury; and with having made false entries on books of account; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having taken Federal Reserve notes from the United States Treasury and with having issued Federal Reserve notes and with having put Federal Reserve notes into circulation without obeying the mandatory provision of the Federal Reserve Act which requires the Federal Reserve Board to fix an interest rate on all issues of Federal Reserve notes supplied to Federal Reserve banks, the interest resulting therefrom to be paid by the Federal Reserve banks to the Government of the United States for the use of the said Federal Reserve notes, and I charge them with having defrauded the United States Government and the people of the United States of billions of dollars by the commission of this crime; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having purchased United States Government securities with United States Government credit unlawfully taken and with having sold the said United States Government securities back to the people of the United States for gold or gold values and with having again purchased United States Government securities with United States Government credit unlawfully taken and with having again sold the said United States Government securities back to the people of the United States for gold or gold values, and I charge them with having defrauded the United States Government and the people of the United States by this rotary process; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully negotiated United States Government securities, upon which the Government’s liability was extinguished, as collateral security for Federal Reserve notes and with having substituted such securities for gold which was being held as collateral security for Federal Reserve notes, and with having by this process defrauded the United States Government and the people of the United States, and I charge them with the theft of all the gold and Federal Reserve currency they obtained by this process; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully issued Federal Reserve currency on false, worthless, and fictitious acceptance and other circulating evidences of debt, and with having made unlawful advancements of Federal Reserve currency, and with having unlawfully permitted renewals of acceptances and renewals of other circulating evidences of debt, and with having permitted acceptance bankers and discount dealer corporations and other private bankers to violate the banking laws of the United States; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having conspired to have evidences of debt to the extent of over $1,000,000,000 artificially created at the end of February 1933 and early in March 1933, and with having made unlawful issues and advancements of Federal Reserve currency on the security of the said artificially created evidence of debt for a sinister purpose, and with having assisted in the execution of the said sinister purpose; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having brought about a repudiation of the currency obligations of the Federal Reserve banks to the people of the United States, and with having conspired to obtain a release for the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve banks from their contractual liability to redeem all Federal Reserve currency in gold or lawful money at any Federal Reserve bank, and with having defrauded the holders of the Federal Reserve currency, and with having conspired to have the debts and losses of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve banks unlawfully transferred to the Government and the people of the United States; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully substituted Federal Reserve currency and other irredeemable paper currency for gold in the hands of the people after the decision to repudiate the Federal Reserve currency and the national currency was made known to them, and with having thus obtained money under false pretenses; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having brought about a repudiation of the national currency of the United States in order that the gold value of the said currency might be given to private interests, foreign governments, foreign central banks of issue, and the Bank for International Settlements, and the people of the United States be left without gold or lawful money and with no currency other than a paper currency irredeemable in gold, and I charge them with having done this for the benefit of private interests, foreign governments, foreign central banks of issue, and the Bank for International Settlements; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with conniving with the Edge law banks and other Edge law institutions, accepting banks, and discount corporations, unlawfully to finance foreign governments, foreign central banks of issue, foreign commercial banks, foreign corporations, and foreign individuals with funds unlawfully taken from the United States Treasury; and I charge them with having unlawfully permitted and made possible “mass financing” of foreigners at the expense of the United States Treasury to the extent of billions of dollars and with having unlawfully permitted and made possible the bringing into the United States of immense quantities of foreign securities, created in foreign countries for export to the United States, and with having unlawfully permitted the said foreign securities to be imported into the United States instead of gold, which was lawfully due to the United States on trade balances and otherwise, and with having unlawfully permitted and facilitated the sale of the said foreign securities in the United States in a manner prejudicial to the public welfare and inimical to the Government of the United States; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully made loans of gold and of gold values belonging to the bank depositors and the general public of the United States to foreign governments, foreign central banks of issue, foreign commercial banks, foreign corporations, and individuals, and the Bank for International Settlements, to the loss and detriment of the Government and the people of the United States; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully exported gold reserves belonging to the national bank depositors and gold belonging to the general public of the United States to foreign countries, and with having converted the said gold into foreign currencies, and with having used it for the benefit of foreigners, and for speculative purposes abroad, and with having unlawfully converted to their own use and the use of others gold belonging to the United States stored or held in foreign countries, and with having unlawfully prevented the shipment to the United States of the said gold which was due to the United States, and with having permitted the importation under their supervision of false, worthless, and fictitious trade paper and foreign securities of doubtful value in lieu of it, and with having caused the United States to lose the said gold; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully exported United States coins and currency for a sinister purpose, and with having deprived the people of the United States of their lawful circulating medium of exchange, and I charge them with having arbitrarily and unlawfully reduced the amount of money and currency in circulation in the United States to the lowest rate per capita in the history of the Government, so that the great mass of the people have been left without a sufficient medium of exchange, and I charge them with concealment and evasion in refusing to make known the amount of United States money in coins and paper currency exported abroad and the amount remaining in the United States, as a result of which refusal the Congress of the United States is unable to ascertain where the United States coins and issues of currency are at the present time and what amount of United States currency is now held abroad; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having arbitrarily and unlawfully raised and lowed the rates on money and with having arbitrarily increased and diminished the volume of currency in circulation for the benefit of private interests and foreign speculators at the expense of the Government and the people of the United States and with having unlawfully manipulated money rates, wages, salaries, and property values, both real and personal, in the United States, by unlawful operations in the open discount market and by resale and repurchase agreements unsanctioned by law; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having brought about the decline in prices on the New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges in October 1929 by unlawful manipulation of money rates and volume of United States money and currency in circulation; by thefts of funds from the United States Treasury; by gambling in acceptances and United States Government securities; by services rendered to foreign and domestic speculators and politicians, and by the unlawful sale of United States gold reserves, and whereas I charge that the unconstitutional inflation law imbedded in the so-called “Farm Relief Act” by which the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve banks are given permission to buy United States Government securities to the extent of $3,000,000,000 ($3 billion) and to draw forth currency from the people’s Treasury to the extent of $3,000,000,000 with the United States Government’s own credit unlawfully taken, it being obvious that the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve banks do not intend to pay anything of value to the United States Government for the said United States Government securities – no provision for payment in gold or lawful money appearing in the so-called “Farm Relief Act” – and that the United States Government will thus be placed in the position of conferring a gift of $3,000,000,000 in United States Government securities on the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve banks to enable them to pay more of their bad debts to foreign governments, foreign central banks of issue, private interests, and private and commercial banks, both foreign and domestic, and the Bank for International Settlements, and whereas the United States Government will thus go into debt to the extent of $3,000,000,000 in currency unlawfully created against it and whereas no private interests should be permitted to buy United States Government securities with the Government’s own credit unlawfully taken and whereas currency should not be issued for the benefit of the said private interests or any interests on United States Government securities so acquired, and whereas it has been publicly stated and not denied that the inflation amendment to the Farm Relief Act is the matter of benefit which was secured by Ramsay MacDonald, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, upon the occasion of his latest visit to the White House and the United States Treasury, and whereas there is grave danger that the accused will employ the provision creating United States Government securities to the extent of $3,000,000,000 and $3,000,000,000 in currency to be issuable thereupon for the benefit of themselves and their foreign principals, and that they will convert the currency so obtained to the uses of Great Britain by secret arrangements with the Bank of England of which they are the agents, and for which they maintain an account and perform services at the expense of the United States Treasury and that they will likewise confer benefits upon the Bank of International Settlements for which they maintain an account and perform services at the expense of the United States Treasury; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having unlawfully concealed the insolvency of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve banks and with having failed to report the insolvency of the Federal Reserve banks to the Congress and with having conspired to have the said insolvent institutions continue in operation, and with having permitted the said insolvent institutions to receive the United States Government funds and other deposits, and with having permitted the said insolvent institutions to receive United States Government funds and other deposits, and with having permitted them to exercise control over the gold reserves of the United States and with having permitted them to transfer upward of $100,000,000,000 of their debts and losses to the general public and the Government of the United States, and with having permitted foreign debts of the Federal Reserve banks to be paid with the property, the savings, the wages, and the salaries of the people of the United States, and with the farms and homes of the American people, and whereas I charge them with forcing the bad debts of the Federal Reserve banks upon the general public covertly and dishonestly and with taking the general wealth and savings of the people of the United States under false pretenses, to pay the debts of the Federal Reserve banks to foreigners, and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with violations of the Federal Reserve Act and other laws; with maladministration of the Federal Reserve Act; and with evasions of Federal Reserve law and other laws, and with having unlawfully failed to report violations of law on the part of the Federal Reserve banks which, if known, would have caused the said Federal Reserve banks to lose their charters, and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with failure to protect and maintain the gold reserves and the gold stock and gold coinage of the United States and with having sold the gold reserves of the United States to foreign governments, foreign central banks of issue, foreign commercial and private banks, and other foreign institutions and individuals at a profit to themselves, and I charge them with having sold gold reserves of the United States so that between 1924 and 1928 the United States gained no gold on net account, but suffered a decline in its percentage of central gold reserves from 45.9 percent in 1924 to 37.5 percent in 1928 notwithstanding the fact that the United States had a favorable balance of trade throughout that period; and

Whereas the United States was the only country which lost a considerable quantity of gold during that period, to wit, 1924 to 1928, inclusive, I charge them with the theft and sale of the said gold to their foreign principals, and I charge them with the theft and sale of the 10 percent of the entire gold stock of the United States during the last 4 months of 1927 and during 1928 after crediting all importations of gold received by the United States during that period, this theft and sale of 10 percent of the gold stock of the United States occasioning the largest gold outflow from the United States that had ever theretofore occurred, and I charge them with the theft and sale of all the gold reserves exported from the United States from the year 1928 to the present time, a period during which the United States has lost gold continuously and has gained no gold on net account, notwithstanding the fact that the balance of trade and accounts throughout the entire period has been in favor of the United States; and

Whereas the United States has received no gold no net account since 1923, a period of 10 years during which the United States has had a favorable balance of trade and has had large sums due to it and payable in gold from freeing nations and has not received such sums in gold, I charge them, the said accused, with the theft of gold which was lawfully due to the United States, with the theft of gold belonging to the United States, and with the unlawful diversion of United States gold to the treasuries and central banks of foreign countries, and I charge them with concealment of the true condition and amount of the gold reserves of the United States at the present time; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having conspired to concentrate United States Government securities and thus the national debt of the United States in the hands of foreigners and international money lenders and with having conspired to transfer to foreigners and international money lenders title to and control of the financial resources of the United States; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having fictitiously paid installments on the national debt with Government credit unlawfully taken; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with the loss of United States Government funds interested to their care; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having destroyed independent banks in the United States and with having thereby caused losses amounting to billions of dollars to the depositors of the said banks and to the general public of the United States; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with failure to furnish true reports of the business operations and the condition of the Federal Reserve banks to the Congress and the people, and with having furnished false and misleading reports to the Congress of the United States; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having published false and misleading propaganda intended to deceive the American people and to cause the United States to lose its independence; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with unlawfully allowing Great Britain to share in the profits of the Federal Reserve System at the expense of the Government and the people of the United States; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having entered into secret agreements and illegal transactions with Montagu Norman, governor of the Bank of England; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with swindling the United States Treasury and the people of the United States in pretending to have received payment from Great Britain of the amount due on the British war debt to the United States in December 1932; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having conspired with their foreign principals and others to defraud the United States Government and to prevent the people of the United States from receiving payment of the war debts due to the United States from foreign nations; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having robbed the United States Government and the people of the United States and other lawful transactions and with having created a deficit in the United States Treasury which has necessitated to a large extent the destruction of our national defense and the reduction of the United States Army and the United States Navy and other branches of the national defense; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with having reduced the United States from a first-class power to one that is dependent, and with having reduced the United States from a rich and powerful Nation to one that is internationally poor; and

Whereas I charge them, jointly and severally, with the crime of having treasonably conspired and acted against the peace and security of the United States, and with having treasonably conspired to destroy constitutional government in the United States: Therefore be it

Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized and directed, as a whole or by subcommittee, to investigate the official conduct of Eugene Meyer, Roy A. Young, Edmund Platt, Eugene R. Black, Adolph Caspar Miller, Charles S. Hamlin, George R. James, Andrew W. Mellon, Ogden L. Mills, William H. Woodin, John W. Pole, J.F.T. O’Connor, members of the Federal Reserve Board; and F.H. Curtiss, J.H. Case, R.L. Austin, George De Camp, L.B. Williams, W.W. Hoxton, Oscar Newton, E.M. Stevens, J.S. Wood, J.N. Payton, M.L. McClure, C.C. Walsh, Isaac B. Newton, Federal Reserve agents, to determine whether, in the opinion of the said committee, they have been guilty of any high crimes or misdemeanor which, in the contemplation of the Constitution, requires the interposition of the constitutional powers of the House. Such committee shall report its findings to the House, together with such resolution or resolutions of impeachment or other recommendations as it deems proper.

For the purposes of this resolution the committee is authorized to sit and act during the present Congress at such times and places in the District of Columbia or elsewhere, whether or not the House is sitting, has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such clerical stenographic, and other assistants, to require the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, to take such testimony, to have such printing and binding done, and to make such expenditures as it deems necessary.

(And just afterwards…)

Mr. Byrns: Mr. Speaker, I move that the resolution and charge be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

The motion was agreed to.

This bold impeachment of numerous Federal Reserve and Treasury Department banking officials was never followed up on… and none were removed from office, or punished criminally or civilly, despite a massive conspiracy that impacted the United States’ currency deeply, and which set up the conditions for the Great Depression.

Louis T McFadden – Congressional record – May 23, 1933 – motion for impeachment of US Federal Reserve by mrpoisson on Scribd