In a politically corrupt lie at best, Attorney General William Barr announced the resignation of Berman on Friday.
There’s just one little thing: Berman never resigned.
Another Political Crisis
The New York Times reports Clash Over U.S. Attorney Who Investigated Trump Associates Sets Off Crisis
Mr. Barr’s announcement that Mr. Trump was seeking to replace Mr. Berman was made with no notice. Mr. Barr said the president intended to nominate as Mr. Berman’s successor Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who has never served as a prosecutor.
Mr. Barr’s attempt to fire Mr. Berman received unexpected pushback from Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a close Trump ally.
Mr. Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee — which would approve Mr. Clayton’s nomination — suggested in a statement that he would allow New York’s two Democratic senators to thwart the nomination through a procedural maneuver.
Reasons Trump Upset at Berman
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Mr. Berman’s office has taken an aggressive approach in a number of cases that have vexed the Trump administration, from the prosecution and guilty plea obtained from Mr. Cohen to a broader investigation, growing out of that inquiry, which focused on Mr. Trump’s private company and others close to him.
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Mr. Berman’s office also conducted an investigation into Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee, subpoenaing financial and other records as part of a broad inquiry into possible illegal contributions from foreigners.
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Over the last year, Mr. Berman’s office brought indictments against two close associates of the president’s current lawyer, Mr. Giuliani, and began an investigation into Mr. Giuliani himself, focusing on whether his efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on the president’s political rivals violated laws on lobbying for foreign entities.
Smelly Details
Clayton is not a prosecutor, former prosecutor, or a litigator. At least one of those is normally a prerequisite for the job.
Bolton claims in his new book that Trump was willing to intervene in criminal investigations, including one in Mr. Berman’s office.
The case involves a state-owned Turkish bank accused of violating Iranian sanctions.
“Trump told Erdogan he would take care of things, explaining that the Southern District [Manhattan] prosecutors were not his people, but were Obama people, a problem that would be fixed when they were replaced by his people,” Mr. Bolton wrote.
Trump later dismissed charges against the bank. In return for what?
Barr Changes His Tune
As I was typing this up, Barr changed his claim from Berman resigned to this unbelievable story
Barr Says Trump Fired Manhattan U.S. Attorney
Mr. Barr informed U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of his decision in a letter, saying he was “surprised and quite disappointed” by Mr. Berman’s statement late Friday night disputing Mr. Barr’s assertion earlier in the evening that he had stepped down.
“Unfortunately, with your statement of last night, you have chosen public spectacle over public service,” Mr. Barr wrote in his letter Saturday. “Because you have declared that you have no intention of resigning, I have asked the president to remove you as of today, and he has done so.”
Barr lied twice, the first when he said Berman resigned, the second when he claimed Trump already fired him.
Obstruction of Justice
Legal grounds for removing Mr. Berman from the post remained unclear. Before Mr. Barr’s letter, people familiar with the situation said the matter was likely to end up before a judge.
Mr. Barr said in his letter Saturday that he had offered Mr. Berman “other senior positions” in government, including running his office’s civil division and the SEC chairman’s spot that Mr. Clayton would leave.
The WSJ said the legal grounds are unclear.
Firing a prosecutor because he is about to go after your friends is not merely “questionable”.
It’s blatant obstruction of justice and perhaps it extends to Trump himself.
Law and Order? Really?
Dear Mr. President how about some of each?
Appointing a political hack with no prosecution experience as the top Federal New York prosecutor has nothing to do with either Law or Order.
And not even Attorney General Barr can keep his story straight.
How Smelly Will This Get?
This is another cover-your-ass move by Trump guaranteed to blow up.
The question is not whether the details will be smelly, but rather how smelly it gets.
Addendum – Berman Reverses Course
Geoffrey Berman reverses course — now says he will leave SDNY ‘effective immediately’
“In light of A. G. Barr’s decision to respect the normal operation of law and have Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss become Acting U.S. Attorney, I will be leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, effective immediately,” Berman said in a statement released Saturday.
How long will Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss last?
Mish
Berman refused to go after De Blasio for abusing the first amendment rights of the Jewish community. Since you’re on the side of Berman’s blatant antisemitism that makes you a Nazi.
Yes, he should testify to Congress why he refused to investigate the Clinton Foundation and Global initiative which failed to pay 2.5 billion is US taxes. Why didn’t he investigate them and get a huge sum for the US?
By law, each United States attorney is subject to removal by the President. Trump can remove any US attorney he wants. Previous administrations have fired most of the prior administrations’ appointments or hires. Clinton did it and so did Obama. Why is Trump banned from doing the very same thing the previous presidents have done?
Trump is not banned from removing a Berman. However, doing so strongly suggests obstruction of justice by Trump.
It suggests to mean that Berman has been doing the bidding of the Establishment (he is a Session’s appointee) and is obstructing justice with regard to Epstein, the Clinton’s and other Deep State players.
lt took\ a very long time for Trumpand his Administration to get rid of a POLITICAL appointee who was quite agressive
overhere it didnt take Macron and his sponsors a long time to get rid of a political collegue named Francois Fillion
The Pres of USA can fire ANY US attorney he wants. Look up the law instead of spouting MSM nonsense.
Has everyone lost their minds. The AG is a political appointee. If the appointee is on a fishing trip to investigate their boss, they should expected to be fired.
I know everyone hates Trump but this is ridiculous.
Nothingburger. Trump is just hopeless at being a smooth operating and getting his way through back channels, and all the usual sticks and carrots.
what’s the story here? Are the Biden supporters really going to support Trump appointees refusing to leave their positions? This is a joke. Simply highlights how deep the swamp is….
No, Clinton fired ALL of them.
So much corruption in this Administration. It just never ends.
So much corruption that Robert Mueller spent 40 million and came up with ZERO. This has been the most investigated president and NOTHING has been found. The only thing that has been found is that he wants to DRAIN THE SWAMP and the swamp creatures are fighting tooth and nail.
” …focusing on whether his efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on the president’s political rivals violated laws on lobbying for foreign entities.”
It is called evidence. Recorded phone calls proved that Biden Quid Pro Quoed to get Shokin, who was doing his job, fired.
Trump was impeached for what Biden actually did. The democrtic Party now supports Quid Pro Quo for president. The Democratic Party is corrupt to the core.
Well at least he didn’t get a longsword through the top of his skill like Beckett did.
That may be a big mistake by Barr and Trump – meddlesome priests can have a word with the man upstairs, but slighted attorneys know where to plant the legal explosives.
Unless the new incumbent is planning to start the job with a big pile of paper and a can of kerosene, there’s an awful lot of discoverable documents. I’ll bet Berman had the best ones safely stashed under alternative titles for posterity.
Hi Mish, your last 4 posts are about Trump… you used to write about economics and be great at it…my 2 cents: there are better subjects than Trump this, Trump that…Best.
He’s a tough topic to avoid. Not only is he POTUS, he tries harder than anyone I’ve ever seen to be the center of attention. You have to admit that Trump himself wouldn’t have it any other way. He doesn’t even care whether your write positively or negatively about him, as long as he’s the one in the spotlight.
As for finance, the Fed is the only thing keeping the lights on, they are now the alpha and omega of our economy. We all know it’s going to blow up, but since the printer goes brrrrr the catalyst for collapse will probably be social in nature as rampant inequality gets worse. That’s why talking about Trump is never really off topic.
Trump’s stupidity also has an enormous impact on the economy at large.
As the old saying goes…..”If brains were dynamite Trump would not have enough to blow his nose”.
Trump was ahead of the curve when he told Powell to cut interest rates. Trump had more brains than Powell.
That’s like saying cow manure has more brains than horse manure.
Mish is obsessed about Trump. If one didn’t know better, one would think Trump ran off with Mish’s wife.
Let’s see if Berman accepts Eliot Engel’s invitation to testify before the House about the administration’s efforts to place a finger on the scale of justice. I’m sure there are plenty of impeachable offenses and attacks on the integrity of the legal system.
MAGA people won’t care — they’ll even applaud. But actual American citizens with actual concern for our constitution and way of life will want to hear a reminder about why this lawless disaster of an administration needs to go… as well as understand just how much damage will need repair over the next decade.
Barr never thought he would have do what he has done. I bet the Republicans thought he could control Trump. Now the fun begins this summer. Who is going step in and tell Trump he can suspend the election ? Because that is what he is looking for. Barr isn’t that guy.
Please provide the evidence you have that Pres. Trump is going to suspend the election. We’ll wait.
No evidence. Just a hunch. It could theoretically happen if the pandemic got worse or if there was a war. Though I doubt the Supreme court would support anything he did. Trump loves being in power. This much I do know 🙂
Yet to hear one elected Republican senator defend Trump’s latest stunt. Your Republican Party is in full on self destruct mode powered by Trump. The Trumpster is headed for the Dumpster along with some of his staunchest Senate defenders. Good riddance.
The Republicans are notoriously cowardly when standing up to PC/virtue signalling stuff. But most of them are phonies. It’s not my party. Never voted for ’em and probably never will. But I’ll take them over the Dems any day, that’s for sure. They are willing to tear the country down with violence to get their way. As far as I’m concerned, anyone supporting them at this point is deluded or wicked or both. But TDS justifies no end of BS seemingly.
This circus is getting more and more interesting! Starring chief clown tRump!
Tiktok Kpop for the win in Tulsa!
the monsters are still out there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=-j0rjlfmDx4&feature=emb_logo
His firing was confidential.
It’s also a national secret so it can’t be discussed.
When he opened his mouth to say that he would not resign, he himself made it public.
How many years does it take to go after Hillary? Do your job and you won’t be canned
Could Berman have accepted his walking papers just to bolster the case against Trump for obstruction of justice? Just a thought.
Pres. Trump did not obstruct justice when it is clearly in his purview to terminate any US attorney he chooses.
There is no too low for Trump lies. On June 15, Trump celebrated on Twitter that nearly a million people had requested tickets for his rally in Tulsa. Turns out that’s not to be and there is NO outdoor overflow crowd.
Sure, just like his inauguration “record crowds”. What a pathetic big little man.
Barr: Now remember Donnie, you have to say the firing came from you
Trump: Ok, I got it
Barr: I don’t have the authority to fire Berman, but you do
Trump: Ok, I got it
Barr: It’s very important that we are on the same page
Trump: Ok, I got it
Barr: When the press asks, you tell them the firing came from you
Trump: Ok, I got it
Reporter: Did you fire Berman?
Trump: I didn’t do it. I know nothing about it – not my department
Me thinks Trump is throwing Barr under the bus. Couldn’t happen to a bigger sleaze ball.
Trump speaks in (often infuriating) shorthand. Barr wrote out what happened and it’s very simple. He asked Trump to fire him because that’s where the authority to fire comes from. So Trump said ‘Go ahead, fire him.’ And Barr told B that Trump had fired him. When Trump says that he didn’t do it, it is true in terms of who started it (not him), but untrue in the sense that he gave permission. It’s not a big deal. The SDNY is one of the Resistance HQ’s in the lawfare that has been conducted against this President. Given how wrong and dishonest so many have been since his election, I am surprised Mish seems to think they are all upstanding, honest public servants and only Trump is crooked. But I’m not really surprised. Mish has become a 24/7 Trump critic of late. Trump has that effect on people seemingly!
Trump and Barr has no ethics. Barr is just a Trump lynch man. BOTH are the worst in my lifetime.
EDIT: This WAS a reply to Sechel’s post about Graham, how it ended up at the top of the comments is beyond me.
February 24 Graham was leading by 17 points in his senate contest, March 25 he led by 4 points, and May 27 it was a dead heat tie at 42/42 with his opponent Harrison. I think he is seeing that being Trump’s little handmaiden is killing his chances to get reelected.
Graham is afraid of being outed as gay. It was strange after McCain died how much Graham sucked up to Trump. I dare say Trump knows about some affairs Graham had with others in Washington. Graham’s plan was working until Covid-19 hit. Now he has been exposed like the rest of the GOP.
Makes you wonder how well Graham knew Epstein does’t it? I mean if Epstein and his organization could procure underage girls why not also underage boys?
This is a scandal, it is one of the most egregeous examples of graft and corruption in high office in our history, not even Nixon would have made such a naked move to quash justice. And Berman did leave his office AFTER being fired according to the evening news tonight, but he really did not have a choice. It is now up to Pelosi and the democrats in the house to impeach Barr. And possibly Trump. Though this close to the election maybe just Barr. And yep it would sail through the house in two or three weeks but fail in the senate, but that is alright with me because it is just another reason for voters to turn the senate over to the democrats from the Moscow Mitch corruption machine.
Another shameful episode in the Trump presidency. Barr is an absolute disgrace.
Barr has not got the authority to fire Berman, he tried and failed, Berman refused to play the game thus forcing Trump to step in and fire him in order to replace him with a shill that has never been a prosecutor. Someone that will drop all cases against Trump henchmen and fix cases external to the US. Like Ukraine and Turkey.
Trump on firing of Geoffrey Berman: ‘I’m not involved’
What planet is this twat living on? He just fired the US attorney in NY and says he is “not involved.” The president is the only person with authority to fire a US attorney.
Barr’s handpicked replacement Craig Carpenito will not get through the senate confirmation this close to the election. And if he is appointed interim SDNY US Attorney the house is going to go totally ape shit with impeachments. And they should. This is a massive abuse and nothing less than Trump installing a new fixer in the highest prosucutorial office in the country.
I hope in the spirit of protest that has swept the nation that the entire DOJ in the SDNY walk out of their jobs, call in sick, and otherwise just refuse to participate in this travisty of justice.
The choice was clear: Resign or get Epstiened.
Within the span of about 18 hours, both Berman and Trump have called William Barr a bald faced liar.
In a country about to celebrate its 244th birthday, here’s something you never thought you’d see; both the boss of the Attorney General and a top subordinate calling the AG a liar.
It’s a country entirely, 100%, ran, owned and ruled by rank idiots by now. And this is what idiots do. It’s all they can ever be expected to do. As anything more useful, is far beyond their mediocre brains’ complete inability to understand, and reason about, anything at all.
Hence, childish court intrigue, is all they can do. Hence all any of them ever will do. To them, like to the rest of the idiots who hew and haw over what one Kardashian, or some moenkeyette in porn armor on Game of Thrones or similar drivel, tells another on realty TeeVee, this sort of petty court intrigue is important stuff. “He said what to whom? Ooh!!”, “but she meant this, and he feels like that, double-ooooh!” All extremely important matters, for the sort of undifferentiated “made money off my home and the ‘markets’”” idiots for whom anything more logically challenging, is simply far beyond the realm of the possible.
Of course, as long as the patsies who get robbed in order to keep garbage like these not only alive, but indeed in positions of wealth and influence, keep doing their best to be dumber than a reality show audience themselves, none of it will change. At least not until the Jihadis finally gets around to rescue this dump, and turn it into something at least marginally less disgusting, childish and idiotic than what it currently is.