Attorney General Bill Barr spoke out today against SDNY Attorney General Geoffrey Berman, a Trump appointee who happened to have investigated Trump’s former attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen and is currently investigating Trump’s new attorney and “fixer” Rudy Giuliani.
NEWS: AG Bill Barr fires Geoffrey Berman via a letter, accusing him of choosing “public spectacle over public service. 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.” – @PeteWilliamsNBC
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) June 20, 2020
Barr said in a press conference that he had asked Trump to fire Berman earlier in the day and that Trump had done so. He accused Berman of having made a “spectacle” of his firing, but never addressed how the confusion began in the first place. On Friday, Barr had announced the resignation of Berman, who had not resigned and had no intention of doing so. After Berman told this to the press, Barr changed his position on Saturday and said that Berman is now fired.
#Barr is attempting to do to #Berman in SDNY what he did to Jessie Liu in DC – remove a US Atty with integrity and install someone he can control. Acting DC USA Shea reduced sentencing recommendation for Stone and moved to dismiss Flynn case. Wonder what dirty work awaits in SDNY
— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) June 20, 2020
It is not uncommon, and in fact has become quite common, under the Trump administration to fire officials in charge of oversight who get too close to investigating the corruption in the Trump presidency. James Comes was fired as director of the FBI because of the investigating into Trump’s connections to Russia, which Trump himself admitted in an interview with Lester Holt. Just 10 days ago, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fired Steve Linck, an inspector general who was investigating Pompeo for abuse of government funds and secret plans to sell arms to Saudi Arabia.
Powerful Manhattan Prosecutor Refuses to Leave Post, Setting Up Showdown With Attorney General Bill Barr
‘I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning,’ Geoffrey Berman says. https://t.co/NFC66gXnCV
— Jon Cooper 🇺🇸 (@joncoopertweets) June 20, 2020
Had Barr not lied and simply demanded Berman’s resignation quietly to allow him to avoid some embarrassment, the attorney general wouldn’t have made a “spectacle” of anything. In fact, the creator of the “spectacle” is Trump’s newest attorney and “fixer,” William Barr.
Another Friday night, another attempted massacre, this time SDNY U.S. Attorney Berman.
Barr does Trump’s dirty work again.
Whether this is payback for Berman’s past independence, or a new effort to obstruct pending investigations, we do not know.
But Congress must find out. https://t.co/2WTlrtxN2I
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 20, 2020
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
