An extraordinary clash between Attorney General William Barr and Manhattan’s chief federal prosecutor continued to play out Saturday after Geoffrey Berman, whose office has managed …
An extraordinary clash between Attorney General William Barr and Manhattan’s chief federal prosecutor continued to play out Saturday after Geoffrey Berman, whose office has managed a series of high-profile investigations into Trump administration allies, vowed to resist Barr’s abrupt effort to oust him and declared that ongoing inquiries would move forward.
“I have not resigned and have no intention of resigning,” Berman said in a statement late Friday night. “I will step down when a presidentially-appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Until then, our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption.”
Berman’s statement came shortly after the attorney general announced that the prosecutor, who oversees the Justice Department’s most prestigious office, was “stepping down” to make way for President Donald Trump’s new nominee to lead the office, Jay Clayton, the current chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The New York prosecutor said he learned of the attorney general’s action when the Justice Department issued a press release late Friday. The practice has become increasingly common in the Trump administration, which has sought to purge its ranks of watchdogs and whistleblowers who have called attention to misconduct throughout the government, including the White House.
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Although Berman referred to ongoing “investigations” within the Southern District of New York, he did not elaborate on the nature of specific inquiries.
