Trump fires US prosecutor who investigated allies

 Geoffrey Berman said Saturday that he would not fight the move and will be leaving the office in the hands of his deputy, effective immediately.

Attorney General William Barr said Saturday that at his request, President Donald Trump had fired Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan.

Shortly afterwards, Berman, who had defied Barr’s earlier demand for his resignation, announced that he would not resist the order and would step down, leaving the high-profile prosecutor’s office in the hands of his deputy, Audrey Strauss.

Trump himself, when asked about Berman’s firing Saturday afternoon by reporters at the White House, said he was “not involved” in the situation and that the decision was “up to the attorney general.”

“That’s his department, not my department,” said the president. “I’m not involved.”

Barr said in his Saturday letter that he had been “surprised and quite disappointed” by Berman’s response on Friday night, saying he had “hoped that [Berman’s] departure could be amicable” and had believed there was still a chance he might remain within the administration in some capacity.

“Unfortunately, with your statement of last night, you have chosen public spectacle over public service,” Barr wrote. “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.”

Word of Barr’s announcement Friday night had caught senior officials in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office off guard. His office prosecuted former Trump confidante Michael Cohen, though he was recused from involvement in the case.

Berman was also overseeing the investigation of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s business activities, and the prosecution of two Florida businessmen, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, former associates of Giuliani who were tied to the Ukraine impeachment investigation. Berman’s office filed charges last fall, accusing them of violating federal campaign finance laws.

Berman suggested he gave up the fight because Barr acknowledged that Berman’s deputy, Audrey Strauss, would take over the office, rather than the administration’s announced choice, Jay Clayton, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“In light of Attorney General 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,” he said in a statement, adding that he believed Strauss and her team “will continue to safeguard the Southern District’s enduring tradition of integrity and independence.”

 

It was a marked departure from his defiant statement Friday night, after Barr’s initial announcement.

“I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning, my position, to which I was appointed by the Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,” Berman said then, suggesting he would fight his removal from office.