Picture: Johannes EiseleThe Justice Department has moved abruptly to oust Geoffrey S Berman, the powerful US Attorney overseeing key prosecutions of President Donald Trump’s allies and an investigation of his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.But Berman, who also oversaw the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein, said he was refusing to leave his post and that his ongoing investigations would continue.“I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning my position,” he said.His statement came hours after Attorney-General Bill Barr said Berman was stepping down from his position.The standoff set off an extraordinary clash between the Justice Department and one of the nation’s top districts, which has tried major mob and terror cases over the years.It is also likely to deepen tensions between the Justice Department and congressional Democrats who have pointedly accused Barr of politicising the agency and acting more like Trump’s personal lawyer than the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman took to social media to issue his own statement, saying he’d learned that he was being pushed out through media reports.
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By Matthew Russell Lee, Scoop Patreon, thread. "Trump then told Erdogan he would take care of things, explaining that the Southern District prosecutors were not his people, but were Obama people, a problem that would be fixed when they were replaced by his people," Bolton wrote in the book, "The Room Where it Happened: A White House Memoir," according to The Post.But Berman later obtained an indictment against Halkbank, and the case is still pending.House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., in a tweet said, "America is right to expect the worst of Bill Barr, who "We have a hearing on this topic on Wednesday.
The extremely unusual standoff involves high stakes, as Berman has shown a willing to investigate associates of Trump, including two of the president's own lawyers.
"I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate. He was fired. "Barr also said of Berman: "Geoff has done an excellent job leading one of our nation's most significant U.S. Attorney's Offices, achieving many successes on consequential civil and criminal matters. proceedings. The people were not authorised to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.The office has also prosecuted a number of Trump associates, including Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who served a prison sentence for lying to Congress and campaign finance crimes.Berman has also overseen the prosecution of two Florida businessmen, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who were associates of Giuliani and tied to the Ukraine impeachment investigation.The men were charged in October with federal campaign finance violations, including hiding the origin of a $325,000 donation to a group supporting Trump’s re-election.Lev Parnas (L) and Igor Fruman (R) were arrested for campaign finance violations.