It’s become an obvious pattern in Trump’s White House: commit corrupt acts, break the law, violate the Constitution…then fire the investigators. Just as James Comey, Steven Linick, and the Ukraine whistleblower suddenly became corrupt criminals as soon as they were revealed to have been investigating anyone in Trump’s orbit, it’s likely that Geoffrey Berman, the SDNY attorney general who was investigating Rudy Giuliani, will be the subject of many outraged Trump tweets.
Jerry Nadler on Berman firing as US attorney for the SDNY: “The House Judiciary Committee will immediately open an investigation into this incident, as part of our broader investigation into Barr’s unacceptable politicization of the Department of Justice.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 20, 2020
That will be especially true once two whistleblowers speak in front of Congress about Attorney General William Barr’s firing of Berman, which he announced on Friday was a resignation. After Berman said publicly that he had never resigned and that he wasn’t going anywhere, the story changed. Congress now intends to investigate the firing as well as an ongoing pattern of DOJ firings beginning on Wednesday.
In a statement, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said:
‘Last night, Attorney General Bill Barr told us that Geoffrey Berman of the SDNY had resigned—which was untrue. Today, Barr told us that the President asked him to fire Mr. Berman—which may also be untrue, given that the President says he had nothing to do with the decision. The whole thing smacks of corruption and incompetence, which is what we have come to expect from this President and his Attorney General.’
Make no mistake—Bill Barr will go down in history as having aided and abetted the most corrupt president this country has ever seen.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 20, 2020
On Saturday, Barr’s story about Berman’s “resignation” was changed to a firing. In a press conference, Barr sent out a message to Berman that because he “made a spectacle” of his firing, Barr had asked Trump to fire Berman and he had.
There’s a problem with that story, though. Trump says he had nothing to do with the firing. For that reason and many others that make the story shakier with every revelation, a new investigation into the Trump administration’s corruption will begin.
‘”Neither the President nor the Department of Justice have offered any explanation for Mr. Berman’s purported dismissal. We know that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is engaged in investigations aimed at President Trump’s inner circle. We know, from revelations earlier this week, that the President wanted to have ‘his own people’ in that office to help him with his personal and political needs. And we know that, time and time again, Bill Barr has reached into ongoing criminal investigations in order to protect the President from their consequences. The American people are right to be outraged. Barr may sit in the office of the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, but he clearly cares very little about the law.’
Here's the sequence of events:
-Barr says Berman is stepping down.
-Berman says that's not true and he has no intention to do so.
-Barr essentially says, you're right, but I've asked the President to fire you as a result and he has done so.
-Trump says he wasn't involved.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) June 20, 2020
The two whistleblowers who will be speaking to the House Judiciary Committee say they not only have proof that there were corrupt motives in the firing of Berman, but that Barr has made a habit out of firing people who were investigating Trump’s inner circle.
Nadler noted this, saying:
‘The House Judiciary Committee will immediately open an investigation into this incident, as part of our broader investigation into Barr’s unacceptable politicization of the Department of Justice. On Wednesday, the Committee will hear from two whistleblowers who will explain why Barr’s attempt to fire Mr. Berman is part of a larger, ongoing, and wholly unacceptable pattern of conduct. If the President removes Mr. Berman, then we will take additional steps to secure his testimony as well.”‘
Berman’s saying he’s staying “to ensure that this Office’s important cases continue unimpeded” and his vow to continue “our investigations” make clear that he was being fired over an investigation.
So what kind of investigation would Attorney General Roy Cohn fire Berman for? https://t.co/Jw1SG2F1vV
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) June 20, 2020
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
