Attorney General Bill Barr said he asked the president to fire Geoff Berman, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, and Donald Trump obliged.
The nearly 24-hour saga of the powerful federal prosecutor began when the Attorney General named a successor to Berman, who said he learned of his professional demise from a press release. That was late last night. Then, Berman said he wouldn’t step down until his replacement was confirmed by the Senate. On Saturday afternoon, Trump fired Berman. The Washington Post writes:
“Barr wrote that he had hoped for Berman’s “cooperation to facilitate a smooth transition” in the office as Trump nominates the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jay Clayton, to fill the job permanently.
“Instead, Barr wrote that Berman had chosen “public spectacle” by resisting the effort to remove him. “Because you have declared you have no intention of resigning, I have asked the President to remove you as of today, and he has done so,” Barr wrote.“
But just minutes after Barr wrote that, President Trump said, “I’m not involved.”
Politico writes:
“Barr and Berman have long had an adversarial relationship, but Friday night’s bungled ouster attempt still stunned longtime DOJ observers. Berman’s office handled a number of investigations and prosecutions linked to Trump and his associates, including the case against Trump’s ex-consigliere Michael Cohen and investigations that scrutinized the president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and his inaugural committee.”
