Former Congressman Ron Paul believes worries about the 2020 election being tampered with are misplaced.

The retired Texas lawmaker and father of Sen. Rand Paul thinks fears about the Russian government meddling in U.S. elections are less of a reality than efforts to do so by the Federal Reserve.

(Video: YouTube/Ron Paul)

“Forget the Russians! It’s the Federal Reserve seeking to meddle in our elections,” Paul said during his weekly “Ron Paul Liberty Report” Wednesday.

Paul pointed to comments from a former member of the New York Federal Reserve Board, Bill Dudley, who “broadcast to the world that the Fed is anything but independent” after giving a short history of how the body was “unconstitutionally created by Congress” in 1913.

“The Founders, having lived through hyperinflation themselves, understood that government should never have a printing press at its disposal. But from the very beginning of America’s founding, the desire for a crony central bank was strong,” Paul said, recounting how two attempts were made to create a permanent central bank before the Federal Reserve was established.

“The Federal Reserve is the printing press that financed the creation of the largest government to ever exist. Endless welfare and endless military spending are both made possible by the Federal Reserve. The Fed can print the money for whatever the U.S. establishment wants,” he contended.

Paul noted the political nature of the central bank and the contention that it is an independent body though it is not subject to the voice of American voters or a group of shareholders.

“Despite all the propaganda claiming ‘independence,’ the Fed has always been a deeply political institution because the Fed is a government-created monopoly with key government-appointed employees, its so-called independence is a mere fiction. However, the U.S. Congress created the Fed with legislation — it can also abolish the Fed with legislation,” Paul explained.

He went on to cite comments by a former member of the scope of the Federal Reserve’s influence on U.S. elections, and how President Trump’s reelection chances could fall victim to efforts to achieve what the bank sees as the “best long-term economic outcome.”

“Last week the facade of Federal Reserve independence was dealt a severe blow,” Paul said.

“Ironically, the person who broadcast to the world that the Fed was anything but independent was ex-New York Fed President Bill Dudley,” he added, citing Dudley’s opinion piece published by Bloomberg last week.

‘Trump’s reelection arguably presents a threat to the U.S. and global economy… If the goal of monetary policy is to achieve the best long-term economic outcome, then Fed officials should consider how their decisions will affect the political outcome in 2020.”

“The timing of Dudley’s threat to use Fed monetary policy to affect the outcome of a U.S. election couldn’t come at a more striking time,” the former congressman noted. “After all, for more than two solid years, Americans have been bombarded with fabricated stories about Russians rigging our elections.”

“Yet here it is, a Federal Reserve official threatening to do the same exact thing, but this time for real,” Paul said as he rounded out his comments with a fiery reality check.

“More and more Americans are waking up to the fact that there is a ‘deep state’ in America and its interests have nothing to do with American liberty. In fact, our liberty is what the ‘deep state’ wants to abolish,” he said, arguing that the Federal Reserve needs to be “audited and then ended as soon as possible.”

Paul told Fox Business’ Stuart Varney last week that he was “delighted” with Dudley’s remarks as he ended up “exposing the Fed for what they really are.”

(Video: Fox Business)

“To conspire, out in the open, to try to get the president defeated is a little more blunt than usual,” he said.

Trump slammed the central bank as “mentally” unfit last week.

Our Federal Reserve cannot “mentally” keep up with the competition – other countries. At the G-7 in France, all of the other Leaders were giddy about how low their Interest Costs have gone. Germany is actually “getting paid” to borrow money – ZERO INTEREST PLUS! No Clue Fed! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2019

The president asserted that the Fed “loves watching our manufacturers struggle with their exports to the benefit of other parts of the world” in another tweet.

The Federal Reserve loves watching our manufacturers struggle with their exports to the benefit of other parts of the world. Has anyone looked at what almost all other countries are doing to take advantage of the good old USA? Our Fed has been calling it wrong for too long! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2019

“Has anyone looked at what almost all other countries are doing to take advantage of the good old USA?” Trump asked. “Our Fed has been calling it wrong for too long!”