Attorney General William Barr announced that Geoffrey Berman will be stepping down as the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. That clearly came as a surprise to Berman who dashed off a blistering response that he is neither resigning nor stepping down until a replacement is confirmed by the United States Senate. Berman could now be fired, but the move by Barr raises legitimate issues for congressional investigation since Berman has been at the forefront of the investigation into Trump associates, including an ongoing investigation into Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s business activities. The sudden late Friday replacement only added to those concerns and Barr needs to address these questions fully and quickly. This is a very serious matter if Berman is being canned due to his investigations, particularly given President Donald Trump’s continual criticism of those investigations. Update: As predicted, Trump has now fired Berman and Berman has agreed to leave immediately.
From the very start of his administration, President Trump has failed to respect the separation of the White House from Justice Department investigations, particularly those impacting his own interests. Trump previously fired Preet Bharara and was conducting investigations into Trump’s business interests. Trump has also carried out a frontal assault on our system of inspectors general.
Not only is the pattern suspicious but the timing and manner of this action is deeply concerning. Barr announced that Berman “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.” However, he announced that the president will nominate Jay Clayton to succeed Berman.
“For the past three years, Jay has been an extraordinarily successful SEC Chairman, overseeing efforts to modernize regulation of the capital markets, protect Main Street investors, enhance American competitiveness, and address challenges ranging from cybersecurity issues to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Berman sent out a flaming response:
“I learned in a news release from the Attorney General tonight that I was ‘stepping down’ as United States Attorney. 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. 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. I cherish every day that I work with the men and women of this Office to pursue justice without fear or favor – and intend to ensure that this Office’s important cases continue unimpeded.”
Of course, Berman holds a political appointment and it is not up to him when to leave. However, he would have to be now fired if he is refusing to “step down.” Thus, his insistence on remaining until a replacement is confirmed is only possible if Barr does not terminate him.
Barr may do so that since he also announced that Craig Carpenito, the United States Attorney in New Jersey, will serve as acting US attorney in New York. It is true that Berman was appointed by the court. However, it would raise separation of powers problems if Berman claimed he could not be fire by Trump (via Barr). For better or worse, they serve at the pleasure of the president not the court. Berman may be arguing that the court appointment means that he can remain until a replacement is confirmed. That would trigger a novel fight over rivaling executive and judicial authority. The Supreme Court is likely to be favor Trump on his inherent authority.
That is the intriguing element. If this were merely the replacement of an official with someone deemed better, it makes little sense to appoint an interim replacement to guarantee the immediate departure of Berman. That again raises the question of why now and why in this fashion.
Among the most notable investigations in the Southern District is the prosecution of two Florida businessmen, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who were close former associates of Giuliani linked to the Ukraine impeachment investigation. There are also reports that the Southern District may be investigating Giuliani’s consulting business and donations made to America First Action, the main pro-Trump super PAC as well as a related nonprofit group.
As with the Mueller investigation, Barr did not move to hamper such investigations or prosecutions. So the question is: why now? The SDNY has been aggressively pursuing the investigations under Barr and there are no reports of political interference. Moreover, when Barr has broken with trial-level prosecutors in cases like Flynn and Stone, he did so openly and directly with statements on the legal and factual grounds for the changes. Thus, this may be entirely unrelated to the Parnas, Fruman, and Giuliani investigations. Indeed, there are internal investigations being completed by figures like U.S. Attorney John Berman and other issues that could have played a role in this decision. If Barr, however, felt that such matters demand confidentiality, he must also recognize that the appearance of political influence (given the President’s past comments) demand to be addressed. It is certainly not established that there is a “purge” unfolding at the SDNY:
I have known Bill Barr for years and testified at his confirmation hearing. I have always known him to be a person of integrity and principle. While we disagree on subjects like executive power, he has always respected the independent role of the Justice Department and the need to protect it from political interference. For that reason, I believe that he has been unfairly criticized for some of his actions even though I have joined in other criticisms when I felt that he was in the wrong. I would be astonished if this action was an effort to derail investigations into Giuliani or Trump associates. We need to reserve judgment but we also need answers.
If the President wanted Berman fired, Barr would have to carry out that order or resign. He is no Sally Yates, who improperly ordered the Justice Department not to assist the President in his original travel ban order. Like others who disagreed with original ban, I wrote at the time that Yates should have resigned if she disagreed with the order. It is not clear if Trump ordered this firing or whether it had anything to do with Trump-related investigations. The question remains the motivation behind this action and protection of the underlying investigations. It is possible that there was a breakdown in the working relationship between Main Justice and SDNY that is separate and distinct from these investigations. After all, these investigations have been continuing under Barr without any reported impediment or termination. Barr should have addressed those questions in taking this action.
This is one of the most serious allegations to arise during his tenure. Barr needs to be clear as to why he wanted to remove Berman and, most importantly, to guarantee that the underlying investigations will not be impacted by this change in leadership. In the interim, this is a valid matter for congressional oversight in both houses. The move late on a Friday night was itself a serious mistake that only magnified the concerns over political motivations in the action. The public has a right to be assured that this decision was made for reasons entirely separate from the underlying investigations and that those investigations will not be impeded through this action.
Update: Barr has indicated that the change will not result in any change in pending cases:
“Your statement also wrongly implies that your continued tenure in the office is necessary to ensure that cases now pending in the Southern District of New York are handled appropriately. This is obviously false. I fully expect that the office will continue to handle all cases in the normal course and pursuant to the Department’s applicable standards, policies, and guidance.”
Berman: “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. …”
full letter: https://twitter.com/akarl_smith/status/1274461886977904646
Committ – I wonder if the Federal Marshalls will escort him out of the building?
He says he is leaving. I was hoping to see him dragged out with his heels leaving streaks on the floor.
His attitude in this demonstrates he was unfit to hold the office. He spat in their faces when offered a better job. Nothing more need be said.
Usually being fired disqualifies one for future federal office. Now he can’t even be a mailman if true.
Barr schooled by his own staff. .
Interesting to see what this was all about.
So in order to effect what resistance is desired, all any member of the FBI/DOJ has to do is make sure they’re investigating the President or his associates on charges that may or may not be valid? What if Berman’s investigations are conflicting with understanding what Biden did? Why is it that politically motivated investigations of Trump are always the ones to take precedence and nothing else matters?
“Bill Barr Bullied Me Because I Backed Civil Rights”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-barr-bullied-me-because-i-backed-civil-rights
“A piece I wrote about the attorney general back in 1991 has been making the rounds. Here’s why I wrote it, and why what I said is even truer now.”
by Jimmy Lohman
Updated Jun. 15, 2020 11:00AM ET / Published Jun. 14, 2020 4:43AM ET
“When William Barr was nominated by George Bush Sr. to be attorney general in 1991, I got a jolt of post-traumatic stress. The announcement flashed me back to personal victimization by Barr that I had not thought of for 25 years. “Could it be,” I wondered, “that the sociopath from my childhood is really about to become the highest legal official in the land?”
This ominous prospect compelled me to publicly share my experiences of being bullied by Barr. I wrote an account of being intimidated by Barr when he was two years ahead of me in both middle and high school (1963-1967) at Horace Mann in New York, and in college (1969-71) at Columbia University, where his violent behavior escalated.
I submitted these recollections to the Florida Flambeau, a small Tallahassee daily newspaper that mostly serves the Florida State University community. I secretly hoped Barr would never see it and was fairly confident he would not. In the Flambeau piece I outed Barr as a racist and a bully in high school.
He and a buddy of his made a habit of harassing me every time they saw me because I wore pro-civil rights buttons. They would team up and try to scare me, knock me out of the way when they went past me in the hallway and grumble about me being a “pinko.” I made it my business to avoid them.
Barr and his brothers were all known for their extreme right-wing views. One year they even picketed the “Junior Carnival,” an annual charity fundraiser, because the proceeds were going to the NAACP. When I got to college, I learned that Barr had earned a reputation there for teaming up with riot police to attack anti-war protesters and “beat heads” right alongside them.
In the article reporting on my years of dodging Barr’s high school terror tactics, I included some research on what Barr had been up to in the intervening years. It was not a pretty picture: He was burnishing his right-wing credentials in the CIA, and in elite echelons of the legal world advocating for anti-abortion activists and lobbying for corporate welfare. That was 29 years ago.
“Barr and his brothers even picketed the “Junior Carnival,” an annual charity fundraiser, because the proceeds were going to the NAACP. ”
Fast forward to December 2018 and he’s baaaack. Of course, the notion of Barr now serving in a Trump administration had what little hair I have standing on end. So I scanned a clipping of the 1991 column and posted it on Facebook. Many months later, in early 2020, it took off on Twitter when Barr was back in the news for some atrocity that has since been obscured by others. Now my retrospective Barr profile has a resurgence every week or so—whenever Barr outdoes himself and reaches a new low.
The amazing thing about the 1991 column–and the reason it has garnered so much attention and interest–is that long before Barr’s current era of dastardliness, I totally nailed him for what he is today, although he’s taken it to extremes far beyond my wildest imagination: a racist, a bully, and a fascist.
Barr is a lifelong racist. Why in the world would Barr target me for harassment and intimidation when I was a puny little 12-year-old, two years behind him whom he didn’t even know? The answer is very simple: I wore racial equality buttons. One was a very beautiful and meaningful button distributed by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a prominent youth civil rights organization at the time. It was a small black button with a white equal sign in the middle that I thought said it all. I still have it, and here it is:
I wore it with pride, broadcasting my belief in equality and my abhorrence of racism. For that, Barr targeted me.
Barr reached yet another new low last week in insisting that there is “no systemic racism in policing.” As our nation cries out for racial justice, riveted on the pervasive discriminatory practices and culture of law enforcement, Barr can not even acknowledge the problem. Instead, he bared his racist soul, denying what is plain for all to see in one cruel cold-hearted dog whistle to the core of Trump’s base. It is incomprehensibly tragic that the 15-year old who hated me for believing in equality is now in charge of enforcing racial justice. He hasn’t changed a bit.
Barr is a bully. Barr was a lot bigger than I was in middle school, as was his sidekick, who used to threaten and stalk me along with Barr. Apparently, Barr is unrepentant about his violent proclivities in college: He bragged last week to a Politico reporter that he tussled with anti-war protesters in college and claimed that a dozen or so had to go to the hospital (a “boast” disputed by the article’s author). Barr’s reliance on bully tactics has been on display from the moment he took office by Trump’s side, whether flouting congressional authority with brazen contempt or ordering the forceful removal of peaceful protesters from a public space so Trump can stroll through for an idiotic photo op.
Barr is a true fascist. Fascism is not a figment of liberal imagination. It is a real, terrible thing, and it is on the rise around the world—and here at home. It is now common knowledge that Barr got his current job by snowing Trump with Barr’s core belief in the virtually unlimited power of the American president (depending, of course, on what political party the president belongs to). Unfortunately, Barr’s belief flies in the face of fundamental democratic principles and our constitutional form of government.
I have come to be known as something of a “Barr whisperer” over these last 18 months by virtue of my inside view of him in our formative years. Early in his tenure I was asked, and many wondered, “Why would Barr take this job at this point in his life and career?” I think the answer is that Barr saw an opening–a demented, suggestible, Nero-like emperor into whose confidence he could wheedle his way and become supremely powerful. He instantly gained the emperor’s favor and undying devotion by derailing the Mueller investigation findings and refashioning them to the emperor’s liking.
Their symbiotic relationship will keep historians busy for centuries. The one thing I did not know about Barr in 1991 that also defines him is his twisted and profoundly aspiritual religiosity. True to fascist form, on top of everything else, he is a theocrat. He has literally declared war on “secular” society, publicly declaring it to be the root of all evil. Nothing could be more antithetical to the founding principles of our country and a free society.
Barr has emerged as one of the truly evil figures of our day. I have hesitated even to air my childhood grievances with him because they are so trivial and petty compared to the destruction he has wreaked on the vital institutions that sustain our democratic way of life. It started Day One on the job when he squelched the evidence that would bring down a criminal and lawless president. And it peaked last week when he saw fit to sic the might of the American military on a peaceful citizenry whose only offense was to demand an end to racism.
Barr was on the wrong side of history when I met him and he’s on the wrong side of history now.”
Jimmy Lohman is a death row defense attorney and musician in Austin. He tweets at @JamesCLohman1.
Anonymous – if he was a pinko commie, then he deserved to be bullied. What do you think the Marxist BLM bullies are doing to people now?
You beat me to it, PaulCS! I was going to say the same thing, The dude sounds like he was a real twerp.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Steve Vladeck: “Here’s Barr’s letter confirming (1) that *Trump* (not Barr) is firing Berman; and (2) that Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss will be the Acting U.S. Attorney—with *no* mention that Barr said last night that Craig Carpenito had been appointed U.S. Attorney under 28 USC § 541(a).
“I still think that there’s a non-frivolous argument that Berman can’t be fired even by the President, but that’s the weakest claim here—compared to whether Barr could fire him or whether Barr or Trump could name Carpenito as his successor. This letter moots both of those issues.”
https://twitter.com/steve_vladeck/status/1274424931216957443 [Barr’s letter is attached to the tweet]
Meanwhile, Hunter Walker, White House correspondent for Yahoo News tweeted a few minutes ago thaata “President Trump just told reporters at the White House that he’s “not involved” with the firing of US Attorney Berman. Trump said it’s up to Attorney General Bill Barr.” This statement from Trump is confirmed by other WH correspondents (and is presumably on video), for ex., Steve Herman (@W7VOA): “On the firing of SDNY Prosecutor Berman, @POTUS tells reporters that it’s all up to Attorney General Barr, ‘I’m not involved.'”
Trump should have to release a statement firing Berman, because Barr’s claim in the letter that “I have asked the President to remove you as of today, and he has done so” is contradicted by Trump’s statement today to reporters. Given Barr’s lie about Berman last night, I think it’s entirely possible that Barr is lying about Trump firing Berman today. Or maybe Trump is lying that he’s “not involved.” Hard to tell with an administration that lies so readily.
And this still leaves the open legal question of whether Trump can fire Berman (given the conflict between the relevant two parts of the U.S.C.), and if so, whether Berman still continues to work until there’s a Senate-confirmed replacement for the position. Berman could certainly raise this issue in court, in which case there would be a question whether the move to fire Berman is stayed pending a court ruling.
I wish all these Trump appointees that he’s had to fire would leave the poor man alone. Now even the interims are acting up. At least this one isn’t a general!
https://nypost.com/2020/06/20/muhammad-alis-son-says-he-wouldve-hated-black-lives-matters/
Muhammad Ali’s son says dad would have hated ‘racist’ Black Lives Matter
By Chris White
On the fourth anniversary of his death, Muhammad Ali’s only biological son says that his father would be against Black Lives Matter, calling the movement “racist” and the protesters “devils.”
The legendary boxer and activist stood up against racism throughout his life, but Muhammad Ali Jr. says his dad would have been sickened by how the protests have turned to violence and looting after the death of George Floyd.
“Don’t bust up s–t, don’t trash the place,” he told The Post. “You can peacefully protest.
‘‘My father would have said, ‘They ain’t nothing but devils.’ My father said, ‘all lives matter.’ I don’t think he’d agree.
Of the BLM movement, Ali Jr., a Muslim like his father, said: “I think it’s racist.”
“It’s not just black lives matter, white lives matter, Chinese lives matter, all lives matter, everybody’s life matters. God loves everyone — he never singled anyone out. Killing is wrong no matter who it is,” Ali said during an hour-long interview with The Post.
On police brutality, Ali defended law enforcement in general.
“Police don’t wake up and think, ‘I’m going to kill a n—-r today or kill a white man,’” he said. “They’re just trying to make it back home to their family in one piece.
Speaking of Floyd’s killing at the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer, Ali said, “The officer was wrong with killing that person, but people don’t realize there was more footage than what they showed. The guy resisted arrest, the officer was doing his job, but he used the wrong tactic.”
He agrees with President Trump that Antifa fomented violence during the Floyd protests and should be labeled a terrorist organization.
“They’re no different from Muslim terrorists. They should all get what they deserve. They’re f–king up businesses, beating up innocent people in the neighborhood, smashing up police stations and shops. They’re terrorists – they’re terrorizing the community. I agree with the peaceful protests, but the Antifa, they need to kill everyone in that thing.
“Black Lives Matter is not a peaceful protest. Antifa never wanted it peaceful. I would take them all out.”
Instead, Ali goes a step further calling out Black Lives Matter as a divisive movement.
“It’s a racial statement,” he said. “It’s pitting black people against everyone else. It starts racial things to happen; I hate that.”
Ali said he supports President Trump and that his father — who went to jail for refusing to be drafted during the Vietnam War on the basis of his religious beliefs — would have too.
Ali, who was ravaged by Parkinson’s disease and died at 74, appeared to be politically ambivalent most of his life, once endorsing liberal Democrat Jimmy Carter but supporting the reelection of conservative Republican Ronald Reagan (who was backed by only 9 percent of black people).
I think Trump’s a good president. My father would have supported him. Trump’s not a racist, he’s for all the people. Democrats are the ones who are racist and not for everybody.
“These [Democrat politicians] saying Black Lives Matter, who the hell are you to say that? You’re not even black.
“Democrats don’t give a s–t about anybody. Hillary Clinton doesn’t give a s–t; she’s trying not to get locked up.
“Trump is much better than Clinton and Obama. … The only one to do what he said he would do is Donald Trump.”
A new book is about to be released. And is better than Geoffory Berman Twitter feeds.
The adventures of Captain Pissgums
One of the ‘wow’ moments of the book was when I came across the gruesome fight scene called The Psycopathic South Side Blade-freaks Confront Razor Annie and Her Cocaine Chorus of Cutters from the suitably titled Thrilling Murder Comics. It’s in glorious black & white & red – all the blood, and there’s a lot of blood, is in vivid red – there are hatchets digging into heads, knives gouging eyes out, entrails falling out, throats being slit…I mean it’s amazing, it’s a true work of art and I’d love to have a copy hanging on my wall.
One killed, another injured during shooting inside Seattle’s cop-free zone
By Isabel Vincent and Andy Ngo
Shooting erupted early Saturday inside Seattle’s no-cop “autonomous zone,” leaving one person dead and another critically injured — and police fuming that they were stopped from responding by a human chain of protestors.
In chaotic scenes captured on video, police with riot shields attempted to enter the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone shortly after bullets flew at approximately 2:30 a.m., but were stopped at the “border” by protestors linking arms.
“It’s the summer of chaos,” said Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild in an interview on Fox News Saturday.
“Early this morning that violence was raw and real. … One of our community members lost their life and police are still not allowed into that area and were prevented from providing that police service to the area to locate the victim and … to render aid.
“It’s very troubling.”
Both victims were driven by private vehicles to a local hospital, according to the Associated Press.
A high-ranking police source told The Post that cops were not only blocked from reaching the victims at the scene, but were confronted by armed protestors at Harborview Medical Center and kept from entering.
The source said cops also were stymied in investigating the crime scene, although some early reports said police were inside the zone collecting shell casings.
A security employee working in the area reported seeing the shooter arrive in a black SUV, and a 911 caller told police a man left the vehicle toting a rifle in the wee hours at the end of Juneteenth celebrations, according to a local blog post.
One victim — a 19-year-old man — died on the way to the hospital, police said. The other victim, with wounds to the arm and chest, was listed in critical condition Saturday in the Intensive Care Unit, Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg told the Seattle Times.
Witnesses to the melee said that protestors tried to give one of the victims CPR.
Police officers were stopped near the Rancho Bravo Tacos restaurant, at the border of the six-block protest camp where protestors have set up a security post and medical team.
There are no cops in Seattle, just people with badges waiting for their pensions.
“Barr says at his request, Trump has removed Geoffrey Berman as U.S. attorney in Manhattan”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/geoffrey-berman-us-attorney-william-barr-trump/2020/06/20/fcbfa3b4-b30f-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html
“A Justice Department opinion, although authored more than 40 years ago, addresses the lines of authority in such unusual cases. It concludes that the president — not the attorney general or a consortium of judges — has the power to remove a U.S. attorney who holds the position by judicial appointment.
In such cases, the opinion states, ‘the power of removal may be even more important to the president than the power of appointment.
‘Indeed, it is the power to remove, and not the power to appoint, which gives rise to the power to control,’ the memorandum states. The document raised potential conflicts of interest if judges were authorized to remove prosecutors.
‘Due process problems could arise if a court, through the exercise of its removal power, (was) enabled to control the manner in which a prosecutor performs his official duties. We therefore are of the opinion that the power to remove a court-appointed U.S. Attorney rests with the president,” the memo states.’”
– USA Today
“Crazy Abe” Lincoln would have thrown this disgruntled communist (liberal, progressive, socialist, democrat, RINO) employee in prison after suspending Habeas Corpus, the concept of any opposition to “Crazy Abe” being ludicrous.
America has come to the point where it believes the communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs) who tell it that the President of the United States cannot fire his employee. Putin fired Alexander Litvinenko during lunch with a course of haute cuisine, Polonium 210, and Anna Politkovskaya during an ad hoc HR meeting with a PSS 7.62 in the elevator in her apartment block. Xi Jinping eats entire continents in one sitting then fires reactionaries wholesale, slaughtering them by the thousands, entirely sub rosa as if journalism and opposition do not exist.
Were this America in 1861, the DNC, TWITTER, GOOGLE, BLM, NAACP, PMSNBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, NPR, SCOTUS, CONGRESS et al. would be smoldering heaps of rubbish and their principals behind bars entirely incognito.
It is the preposterous-beyond-the-pale, incoherent Newspeak of Oceania to propose that the Trump administration is “politicizing” after the entire government was “politicized” by Obama, with orders to resist issued to his comrade “holdovers,” after “wiretapping,” “spying on” and conspiring against Donald Trump before and after his election.
________________________________________________________
“We will stop him.”
– Peter Strzok to FBI paramour Lisa Page
“[Obama] wants to know everything we’re doing.”
– Lisa Page to FBI paramour Peter Strzok
_________________________________
The Obama Coup D’etat in America is the most egregious abuse of power and the most prodigious criminal act in American political history.
The co-conspirators are:
Bill Taylor, Eric Ciaramella, Rosenstein, Mueller/Team, Andrew Weissmann, Comey,
Christopher Wray, McCabe, Strozk, Page, Laycock, Kadzic, Yates, Baker, Bruce Ohr,
Nellie Ohr, Priestap, Kortan, Campbell, Sir Richard Dearlove, Steele, Simpson,
Joseph Mifsud, Alexander Downer, Stefan “The Walrus” Halper, Azra Turk, Kerry,
Hillary, Huma, Mills, Brennan, Gina Haspel, Clapper, Lerner, Farkas, Power, Lynch,
Rice, Jarrett, Holder, Brazile, Sessions (patsy), Nadler, Schiff, Pelosi, Obama,
James E. Boasberg et al.
____________________
And then there is the subjective, biased, communist, treasonous New and Improved Supreme Court which simply writes its own constitution and makes up whatever law and fundamental law it likes as it goes along.
___________________________________________________________________
“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”
– William Casey, CIA Director
_______________________
America is in a condition of hysteria, incoherence, chaos, anarchy and rebellion.
President Abraham Lincoln seized power, neutralized the legislative and judicial branches and ruled by executive order and proclamation to “Save the Union.”
President Donald Trump must now seize power, neutralize the legislative and judicial branches and rule by executive order and proclamation to “Save the Republic.”
Berman May Be Allowed To Serve Until Senate Confirms A Replacement
Berman is not the first official who the Trump administration has sought to oust in recent months. Trump also fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who played a central role in bringing the whistleblower complaint at the heart of the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry to light, and State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, who was reportedly investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Berman was appointed as the acting US Attorney for Manhattan in 2018 by then-US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, taking over after Trump fired his predecessor, Preet Bharara, who also refused to resign. By law, acting officials are only supposed to serve for a maximum of 120 days before the Senate confirms a permanent appointee, handpicked by the president.
But Trump, who has said he prefers acting officials because he has more flexibility to replace them, never nominated anyone else to fill Berman’s post. A federal court in Manhattan therefore invoked a rarely used power to appoint Berman to the position permanently in April 2018, allowing him to remain in the post until the Senate confirms another appointee.
Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, tweeted Friday that Berman is on firm legal footing to argue that he can continue to serve in his post until the Senate confirms his permanent successor under federal law governing vacancies.
Edited from: “Bill Barr Tried To Fire The U.S. Attorney For Manhattan. He Refused To Step Down”
Vox, 6/20/20
“A Justice Department opinion, although authored more than 40 years ago, addresses the lines of authority in such unusual cases. It concludes that the president — not the attorney general or a consortium of judges — has the power to remove a U.S. attorney who holds the position by judicial appointment.
In such cases, the opinion states, ‘the power of removal may be even more important to the president than the power of appointment.
‘Indeed, it is the power to remove, and not the power to appoint, which gives rise to the power to control,’ the memorandum states. The document raised potential conflicts of interest if judges were authorized to remove prosecutors.
‘Due process problems could arise if a court, through the exercise of its removal power, (was) enabled to control the manner in which a prosecutor performs his official duties. We therefore are of the opinion that the power to remove a court-appointed U.S. Attorney rests with the president,” the memo states.'”
– USA Today
Timing Of Berman Announcement Suspicious
Friday Nights Often Used To Bury Unpopular Developments
The clash over one of the Justice Department’s most prestigious jobs came as the agency had already been roiled by questions over whether Mr. Barr had undercut its tradition of independence from political interference.
It also raised complicated constitutional and legal questions because of the highly unusual way that Mr. Berman received his job. The president and attorney general can typically dismiss United States attorneys, but Mr. Berman was not ultimately appointed by the Trump administration — he was named by a panel of federal judges.
Mr. Barr’s announcement that Mr. Trump was seeking to replace Mr. Berman was made with no notice. Mr. Barr said the president intended to nominate as Mr. Berman’s successor Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who has never served as a prosecutor.
Mr. Barr’s attempt to fire Mr. Berman received unexpected pushback from Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a close Trump ally.
Mr. Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee — which would approve Mr. Clayton’s nomination — suggested in a statement that he would allow New York’s two Democratic senators to thwart the nomination through a procedural maneuver.
He complimented Mr. Clayton but said he had not heard from the administration about his planned nomination.
Mr. Trump’s purge of officials has intensified in the months since the Republican-led Senate acquitted him in the impeachment trial. He has fired or forced out inspectors general with independent oversight over executive branch agencies and other key figures from the trial.
Several dismissals have come late on Friday nights, a time that many White Houses have used to disclose news that they would prefer receive little attention.
The highly public tussle between Mr. Barr and Mr. Berman that unfolded late on Friday was another example of the tumult that has engulfed the Justice Department in recent months.
The attorney general’s interventions in high-profile cases involving the onetime Trump advisers Roger J. Stone Jr. and Michael T. Flynn have prompted accusations from current and former law enforcement officials that Mr. Barr has politicized the department.
Edited from: “Clash Over U.S. Attorney Who Investigated Trump Associates Sets Off Crisis”
Today’s New York Times
It has become clear that the media nor the left in this country have any interest in hearing any rational explanations for anything anymore. The country’s so-called, “Paper of record,” has proven in their actions that even they can no longer hide their partisan support for left -wing propaganda. Barr has no reason to justify his actions since there is nothing he can say that will be acceptable to the press or the left.
Turley has been doing a fine job trying to explain law and reason but there are so few people doing so today that is will not matter. We are headed for a left-wing reich in this country. The right has surrendered to radicals like BLM and Antifa. News media, and lawyers with few exception have caught this left-wing flu as well.
Bill Barr is probably the last adult in Washington and he will be dragged out and burnt at the stake to the cheers of idiots, pyschophants, and self flaggulating white upper-middle class kids who still think a nonsense utopian dream such as a one party state under “socialism.” is workable. We are seeing a collapse of free speech, and the press has destroyed and misused their own stake as arbitors of objectivity bestowed upon them as freedom of the press. The left has taken over the media and weaponized them. Colleges are now run by leftist student groups who are currently engaging in a purge to push out the few remaining voices of the right and moderate left.
We are now ruled by a mob. The scary part of it all is the left has been able to sweep away free thought and speech without even having the Presidency or the Senate. The Judiciary under Chief Justice Roberts is cowardly and he, himself, is casting his votes where ever he feels the wind is blowing at the time. They refuse to hold lower court judges accountable when they ignore warnings about injunctions that seem to be challenges to the Supreme Court’s authority. The DC Appeals court is likely to allow Judge Sullivan to hold a ridiculous hearing which will politicize the courts in ways that are going to destroy the nations justice system and eliminate the trust and respect some of us once harbored for them. Sullivan’s attorney all but admitted that Sullivan will drop the case when the only real argument that they presented that made sense is that a hearing does not mean that Sullivan won’t drop the case. The only conculsion that can be draw is that having a hearing is a political move for TV cameras and the press to try and find more ammunition to attack Barr and the Admin. with. My guess is the DC Appeals court will be cowards and let this political charade happen.
We are one step away from the French Revolution. There will be blood and it won’t be pretty. We have not learned from history. The left has showed us signs of totalitarianism while blaming the other side. It is a game where they say, “Look at the fascist over there!” and then they make the fascist move when people are looking away. The nazi’s told people to watch out for the threat of those horrible communists when they were seizing power. I mean, the Nazi’s weren’t the ones that killed 5 million people in the Ukraine through starvation brought upon by collectivisation. The Nazi’s weren’t the threat, it was the Communists. Now, here in the USA. the left is telling you to watch out for the right, they are fascists, while it is them that are attempting to grab totalitarian control. All, because they lost one election.
A Cady, you sound like the commentor known as Crazed Idiot.
Hmm. And you sound like the one known as ‘paid shill’.
Yes, he seems to be. Notice that all his long propaganda pieces proved to be complete nonsense.
This moment does have a Spain-in-1934 vibe. Note that the Spanish Civil War ran on for nearly three years during which 2% of Spain’s population was killed and production levels declined by about 1/3. That, when we’re facing a resurgent (and malevolent) China.
It’s important to note in this regard that the Democratic Party in all its manifestations is entirely responsible for this.
Development Could Be Related To Bolton’s Book
Mr. Barr’s move to dismiss Mr. Berman came just days after Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, alleged in a new book that Mr. Trump sought to interfere in an investigation by Mr. Berman’s office into a Turkish bank, in a bid to cut deals with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Edited from: “Clash Over U.S. Attorney Who Investigated Trump Associates Sets Off Crisis”
The New York Times, 6/19/20
The New York Times? You mean that tabloid that made their opinion editor walk the plank because he dared print a conservative Senator’s op’ed? Yeah, they are credible…
A.Cady presents with Broad Brush Syndrome
Cady is Crazed Idiot with yet another name.
Breaking!!!
163 paid protesters have filed a lawsuit against none other than George Soros for screwing them out of bail money.
According to the ad Soros placed on Craigslist, protesters would be fully compensated for all of their time and expenses. They found out that the money dried up the moment they got arrested.
A spokesman for the Soros company, Paid Liberal Trolls of America, says the men and women who signed up were told up-front that they should obey the law and not go to jail:
“They were paid for 6 hours at $30 per hour, plus a meal stipend of $40 per day. Add to that a very generous 70 cents per mile for travel and a big cookie, and these people were given neary $1K to be there. All they had to do was go home before curfew. They chose to stay, so they can pay their own bail.”
Soros has a bad habit of not paying bail for his protesters, citing case after case of people not showing up for court. “If they don’t show up. we don’t get those funds back, and we can’t write them off as a business expense,” said Attorney Joe Barron, “They should know better than to expect someone as kind as George Soros to just toss an extra $500 per person out the window.”
Some protesters might be satisfied with that answer, but most are not. According to their leader, Art Tubolls, the 163 people filing the suit will show at the Soros mansion in Deluth if they have to:
“We’re not afraid to protest for real. Charlie Kirk and Turning Point said they’ll fund that endeavor, even if it means he has to bail us out. That guy’s giant head is filled with kindness.”
Turning Point says they’re always happy to assist people looking to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and earn an honest day’s pay.
Source: Very Reliable Sources
Bolton’s book will be a great soporific.
Dismissing Berman May Not Be Easy. N.Y. Senators Will Have Say
Unlike many other U.S. attorneys, Berman is almost uniquely positioned to resist efforts to oust him, at least for a while. U.S. attorneys are typically nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, but in Berman’s case he was appointed to the job by the federal court in his district, and there is some legal precedent indicating that only the court, not the Justice Department, can remove him until a replacement is confirmed by the Senate.
By Saturday morning, it remained far from clear whether Clayton, who was confirmed to his SEC position in May 2017 on a 61-37 vote, could clear the Republican-controlled Senate, with one of Trump’s closest allies signaling he would give home-state senators what amounts to veto power.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), whose panel oversees U.S. attorney nominations, said he would honor the so-called blue-slip rule for the Southern District of New York seat, which means the nomination would not advance without approval of both home-state senators, who are Democrats already deeply skeptical of Barr’s management of the Justice Department.
“As to processing U.S. Attorney nominations, it has always been the policy of the Judiciary Committee to receive blue slips from the home state senators before proceeding to the nomination,” Graham said. “As chairman, I have honored that policy and will continue to do so.”
One of the New York senators, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, called on Clayton to withdraw from consideration. Schumer’s spokesman on Saturday declined to say whether he would refuse to return a blue slip.
It was Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York’s other senator, who in 2018 threatened to block Berman’s confirmation by not returning her blue slip, a move that prompted an interim appointment eventually made permanent by the judges. In a statement, she echoed Schumer’s call for Clayton to withdraw from consideration.
Graham said the administration had not told him of its intent to replace Berman, but said Clayton is a “fine man and accomplished lawyer.”
Edited from: “Trump Administration In Standoff With Manhattan U.S. Attorney Who Investigated The President’s Associates”
Today’s Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-administration-replaces-manhattan-us-attorney/2020/06/19/acae9348-b298-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html
By Devlin Barrett
June 19, 2020 at 12:15 p.m. CDT
“Irish Eyes” wrote in a comment to the article posted by Seth:
“When a Trump appointee and a Republican loyalist like Berman openly revolts against his masters like this you know he’s seen some serious shi+ on those masters.
“And they have to know he’s seen it, and they will know he has now chosen to cover his a+s at their expense rather than meekly comply.
“This is endgame stuff.”
Anonymous, these two paragraphs are key:
Unlike many other U.S. attorneys, Berman is almost uniquely positioned to resist efforts to oust him, at least for a while. U.S. attorneys are typically nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, but in Berman’s case he was appointed to the job by the federal court in his district, and there is some legal precedent indicating that only the court, not the Justice Department, can remove him until a replacement is confirmed by the Senate.
By Saturday morning, it remained far from clear whether Clayton, who was confirmed to his SEC position in May 2017 on a 61-37 vote, could clear the Republican-controlled Senate, with one of Trump’s closest allies signaling he would give home-state senators what amounts to veto power.
Proved to be rubbish.
Yep, let Assange go:
“The Extradition of Julian Assange”
Jun 11, 2020
Novara Media
“Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange shot to fame in 2010 with a series of revelations that shook the world. 10 years later Assange faces up to 175 years imprisonment pending an extradition hearing this September. Whatever the outcome of his case, the political implications for whistleblowing, journalism, and indeed democracy itself may depend on the fate of Julian Assange. “
EXPLOSIVE New revelations from the unredacted Mueller Report!!!
Warning!!! This material may be too explosive for certain persons, so be sure to be sitting down when reading this! Because if you don’t, you may fall out in a dead faint!!!
Do not read this EXPLOSIVE stuff without a defibrillator!
Do not read this EXPLOSIVE stuff without talking to your doctor first!!
Ok, here it is, and don’t say I didn’t warn you!!!
————————-
Here are the most explosive new details from the less redacted report:
Multiple top Trump campaign aides told investigators that Trump himself, then the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, knew WikiLeaks had damaging information on the Clinton campaign.
Former chairman Paul Manafort, former deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates, and former personal attorney Michael Cohen told investigators that Stone told Trump and several advisers in July 2016 that he had spoken with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that the website would begin dumping documents in just a few days.
Mueller’s team “established that the Trump Campaign displayed interest in the WikiLeaks releases, and that former Campaign member Roger Stone was in contact with the Campaign about those releases, claiming advance knowledge of more to come,” the report said.
Mueller concluded that Trump may have lied to investigators in his written answers to questions in the investigation.
“Cohen recalled a conversation in which Roger Stone told Trump that WikiLeaks planned to release information soon, and Manafort recalled that Trump had asked him to stay in touch with Stone about WikiLeaks,” the report said.
“It is possible that, by the time the President submitted his written answers two years after the relevant events had occurred, he no longer had clear recollections of his discussions with Stone or his knowledge of Stone’s asserted communications with WikiLeaks,” the report said. “But the President’s conduct could also be viewed as reflecting his awareness that Stone could provide evidence that would run counter to the President’s denials and would link the President to Stone’s efforts to reach out to WikiLeaks.”
Stone “indicated he had knowledge” of Trump’s written answers to Mueller.
Mueller’s report noted that Stone went on Fox News on the evening of January 25, 2019, the day he made his first court appearance after being indicted.
“That evening, Stone appeared on Fox News and indicated he had knowledge of the President’s answers to this Office’s written questions,” the report said. “When asked if he had spoken to the President about the allegation that he had lied to Congress, Stone said, ‘I have not’ and added, ‘When the President answered the written interrogatories, he correctly and honestly said, ‘Roger Stone and I never discussed this and we never did.'”
https://www.businessinsider.com/new-unredacted-mueller-report-most-explosive-revelations-stone-wikileaks-2020-6
————–
Whew!!! I am glad that is over!!! I am taking my pulse again to make sure I am still alive! All that he said/he said stuff! I do not how the Trump Presidency can continue after this!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
The big issue that the media wants to sneak by is: what did Wikileaks have on Hillary?
Aren’t actual crimes more important than whether or not someone heard about them?
Trump should pardon Assange.
I agree. I have not followed the Roger Stone stuff, but I think I read where he was convicted about lying about having inside scoop on the leaks. Whatever, I think Trump should pardon him, and Papadopalous and others. Manafort, not so much, because he was apparently doing stuff he should not have been.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Lying about material facts while under oath and witness tampering are “actual crimes.”
The newly unredacted content indicates that Trump may have done both. But no biggie, right?
No, not to me. I learned from the Clinton Impeachment that lying is no big deal, even if under oath. It is the subject matter that matters. For example, lying about sex is no biggie, and in that same light, lying about 2 year old conversations about a website seem pretty light. Particularly when nobody is even sure who hacked the servers, except that it wasn’t Russia who gave the stuff to Wikileaks.
Much ado about nothing IMHO.
Now abusing the FBI, DOJ, CIA etc. to hamper a political opponent, that seems to me like big stuff, like even worse than Nixon stuff by far.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Clinton was disbarred for lying under oath about sex.
And you handwave re: “conversations about a website,” ignoring that that website published material that was hacked by a foreign adversary attempting to influence our election. I’m sure it would be totally fine with you if China decided to do that on Biden’s behalf, right? After all, you wouldn’t have double standards based on whether criminal acts serve your goals or not. /s
I don’t want any country illegally interfering in our elections, regardless of who benefits.
You’re also silent about the witness tampering.
And your claim that “nobody is even sure who hacked the servers” is bullsh*t. Read some of the material about this published by the Senate Intelligence Committee, the DNI, etc.
What part of “There is NO evidence Russia gave DNC info to Wikileaks” do you not understand???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I understood your claim, and I also know that it’s false (either by mistake or on purpose, a.k.a. lying).
Quotation marks?
I don’t care if you include the link.
Without the quotation marks, it’s plagiarism.
“Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
There’s no way to understand the current controversy over the firing of the SDNY US Attorney without understanding the 2005 scandal over Bush surgically firing 7 US Attorneys – several investigating his allies – & replacing them with Karl Rove’s stooges:
Timeline: Behind the Firing of Eight U.S. Attorneys
The Bush administration announced in December that it was replacing several federal prosecutors. The Democratic-controlled Congress has had hearings into whether the dismissals were politically…
npr.org
7:26 AM · Jun 20, 2020·Twitter Web App”
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1274317766468788224
Timeline: Behind the Firing of Eight U.S. Attorneys
April 15, 20073:07 PM ET
by Ari Shapiro
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8901997
Preet Bharara
@PreetBharara
·
15h
“Why does a president get rid of his own hand-picked US Attorney in SDNY on a Friday night, less than 5 months before the election?”
https://twitter.com/PreetBharara/status/1274156071062581248
“For extreme diseases, extreme methods of cure, as to restriction, are most suitable.”
– Hippocrates
___________
Why did the communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs) call in “Broken Arrow,” to its communist headquarters in China requesting “danger close” fire support (COVID-19) as their position was on the verge of being overrun?
Because the communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs) were facing an historic landslide victory of epic proportions by President Trump in November and they had tried everything from Mueller to Flimpeachment resulting always only in abject failure.
Blah, blah…
More blather from George.