Geoffrey Berman confirmed in a statement that he would leave “immediately”
New York:
The top American law enforcement official told a federal prosecutor known to have polled President Donald Trump’s allies that he was fired on Saturday – sparking an uproar and launching an investigation by Democratic lawmakers.
Geoffrey Berman, head of the New York Southern District Attorney’s Office since 2018, discovered that his job was in danger via a press release issued Friday night by Attorney General Bill Barr, saying the prosecutor was resigning.
Berman replied that he had “no intention” to resign and that “investigations from his office will go ahead without interruption”.
But Barr sent him a letter on Saturday saying Trump had agreed to fire the official “from today”.
The rapidly escalating crisis has pitted the government against much of Washington’s legal community – and has apparently pitted Barr against Trump, who has denied involvement in the affair.
In his letter, widely disseminated by the American media, Barr accused Berman of having “chosen the public spectacle rather than the public service” by his challenge.
Berman – who later confirmed in a statement that he would leave “immediately” – is at the center of the latest controversy over what Democrats have termed the Justice Department’s politicization under Barr.
The seasoned prosecutor had overseen the prosecution of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and probed Councilor Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to discredit the president’s political opponents.
But Trump, speaking to reporters before a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, denied having sacked Berman – adding to the confused message from the administration.
“It all depends on the Attorney General … He works there, it’s his department, not mine,” said Trump. “I’m not involved.”
Berman, a Republican who served on Trump’s transition team and was formerly a legal partner of Giuliani, has filed lawsuits against sex magnate Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his Manhattan prison cell. Last year.
He also investigated two Giuliani associates accused of election campaign financing violations and of helping to unearth Trump’s electoral challenger, Joe Biden, as part of the Ukrainian scandal for which Trump was deposed.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer urged the Justice Department’s Inspector General to initiate an investigation into “the manifestly corrupt interference by the DOJ”.
Meanwhile, Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has accused Barr of repeatedly intervening in “criminal investigations on behalf of Trump”.
The committee said in a statement that it “will immediately investigate this incident as part of our larger investigation into Barr’s unacceptable politicization at the Department of Justice”.
Two whistleblowers are expected to testify Wednesday on “why Barr’s attempt to fire Mr. Berman is part of a larger, ongoing and utterly unacceptable pattern of conduct,” the statement added.
Berman’s “welcome” testimony
The Trump administration has dismissed or demoted in recent months Pentagon inspectors, intelligence and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as a senior health official who questioned Trump’s promotion unproven drug therapies for COVID-19.
State Department Inspector General Steve Linick was removed from office last month after investigating misconduct on Washington’s top diplomat and Trump’s ally, Mike Pompeo.
Meanwhile, Barr has been charged with repeatedly acting as Trump’s personal lawyer rather than in the public interest following the intervention of the Department of Justice in several cases involving allies of Trump.
More than 1,000 former department officials have signed a statement calling for Barr’s resignation following his meddling to get a lighter sentence for Trump’s longtime friend Roger Stone.
Since then, Barr has been reprimanded for his department’s decision to close the case against Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying about his contacts with Russia at FBI.
Jonathan Turley, a professor of constitutional law at George Washington University, however, argued that Barr’s decision may have had nothing to do with the investigations of Trump’s allies.
“Barr must clearly explain why he wanted to remove Berman and, most importantly, ensure that the underlying investigations are not affected by this change of direction,” Turley told AFP.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
