Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas) said the Federal Reserve is "willfully ignoring" a congressional subpoena for documents in regards to an investigation of a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) leak in 2012, at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday.

"The Fed has recently crossed the line by willfully ignoring a lawful congressional subpoena for documents," said Hensarling, the committee's chairman. "This is inexcusable and unsupported by legal precedents. It cannot be allowed to stand. The Fed's refusal to cooperate in a congressional investigation threatens both its reputation and credibility. The Fed is not above the law."

The FOMC holds meetings for Fed leaders to discuss central bank policies in private; summaries of the meetings are posted at a later date for public view. Concern was raised when confidential details of the FOMC's September 2012 meeting were leaked to the market intelligence firm Medley Global Advisors before any information was released to the public.