US prosecutor who probed Trump allies refuses to quit
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Geoffrey Berman has overseen the prosecution of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and probed advisor Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to discredit the president’s political opponents since he was appointed to head the powerful Southern District of New York attorney’s office in 2018.
The impasse marks the latest controversy in what Democrats in Washington have characterized as the politicization of the Justice Department under Attorney General Bill Barr.
Barr announced Berman’s resignation late on Friday and said Trump would nominate Securities and Exchange Commission chief Jay Clayton as his replacement.
“I thank Geoffrey Berman, who is stepping down after two-and-a-half years of service as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York,” Barr said.
But Berman said he first learned of his apparent departure from Barr’s press release.
“I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning,” Berman wrote.
“I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Until then, our investigations will move forward without interruption.”
Federal prosecutors under Berman’s charge in New York have pursued cases against tycoon sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell last year.
Berman also investigated two associates of Giuliani accused of campaign finance violations and helping dig up dirt on Trump’s election challenger Joe Biden as part of the Ukraine scandal over which Trump was impeached.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer urged the Justice Department’s inspector general to launch an investigation into “blatantly corrupt DOJ interference” and called for Clayton to withdraw from consideration.
– ‘Brazen’ –
“He can allow himself to be used in the brazen Trump-Barr scheme to interfere in investigations by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, or he can stand up to this corruption, withdraw his name from consideration, and save his own reputation from overnight ruin,” the New York senator said.
Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he was not surprised by the move, and accused Barr of repeatedly interfering in “criminal investigations on Trump’s behalf.”
“We have a hearing on this topic on Wednesday,” Nadler tweeted. “We welcome Mr. Berman’s testimony and will invite him to testify.”
The Trump administration has in recent months fired or demoted inspectors general for the Pentagon, the intelligence community and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as a senior health official who questioned Trump’s promotion of unproven drug therapies for COVID-19.
State Department inspector general Steve Linick was removed last month after running a misconduct probe into Washington’s top diplomat and steadfast Trump ally Mike Pompeo.
Berman’s predecessor in the attorney’s office, Preet Bharara, was sacked after he refused Trump’s demand for his resignation.
“Why does a president get rid of his own hand-picked US Attorney in SDNY on a Friday night, less than 5 months before the election?” Bharara tweeted.
While US attorneys are usually nominated by the president, Berman was appointed by the federal court in his district, according to the Washington Post.
This has led some observers to believe that only the court has the power to remove him until a replacement is confirmed by the Senate, the newspaper reported.
Top Republican Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would have the task of confirming Clayton, said in a statement he had not been informed of the move.
The South Carolina senator, in a statement likely to be seen as pushback against an administration of which he has been a staunch ally, highlighted a procedural maneuver that could allow Democrats to try to thwart Clayton.
Laura BONILLA CAL
(AFP)
Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.
