#[1]alternate [2]alternate [3]U.S. Attorney Who Investigated Trump

#[1]alternate [2]alternate [3]U.S. Attorney Who Investigated Trump
Associates Is Abruptly Ousted

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U.S. Attorney Who Investigated Trump Associates Is Abruptly Ousted

The United States attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey Berman, had been
leading the investigation into Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s
personal lawyer.
Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, is being replaced.
Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, is being
replaced.Credit...Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times
[11]Benjamin Weiser [12]William K. Rashbaum

By [13]Benjamin Weiser and [14]William K. Rashbaum
* June 19, 2020Updated 11:16 p.m. ET
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The Justice Department on Friday abruptly ousted the United States
attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman, the powerful federal
prosecutor whose office sent President Trump’s former personal lawyer,
Michael Cohen, to prison and who has been investigating Mr. Trump’s
current personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani.

The announcement that Mr. Berman would be replaced was made with no
notice by Attorney General William P. Barr, who said the president
intended to nominate as Mr. Berman’s successor Jay Clayton, current
chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Barr asked Mr. Berman to resign but he refused so Mr. Barr fired
him, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Trump had been
discussing removing Mr. Berman for some time with a small group of
advisers, the person said.

Mr. Berman has taken an aggressive approach in a number of cases that
have vexed the Trump administration, from the prosecution and
[15]guilty pleas obtained from Mr. Cohen to a broader investigation,
growing out of that inquiry, which focused on Mr. Trump’s private
company and others close to him.

Over the last year, Mr. Berman’s office [16]brought indictments against
two close associates of the president’s current lawyer, Mr. Giuliani,
and [17]began an investigation into Mr. Giuliani himself, focusing on
whether his efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on the president’s
political rivals violated laws on lobbying for foreign entities.

Mr. Berman’s office also conducted an investigation into Mr. Trump’s
inaugural committee, subpoenaing financial and other records as part of
a broad inquiry into possible illegal contributions from foreigners.

Mr. Berman’s abrupt removal came just days after Mr. Trump’s former
National Security adviser, John Bolton, alleged in his 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 Erdoğan.

Mr. Trump has been upset with Mr. Berman ever since the Manhattan
prosecutor’s office pursued a case against Mr. Cohen, according to a
person familiar with their relationship.

Mr. Berman declined to comment on the move to replace him. The
announcement came late on a Friday night, a time of day when government
officials sometimes release information so that it does not attract
widespread attention.

The United States Attorney’s Office in Manhattan is perhaps the most
prestigious federal prosecutor’s post in the country.

Mr. Berman worked there in the 1990s as prosecutor, but he took over
the office under unusual circumstances.

Mr. Berman, a Republican who contributed to the president’s election
campaign and worked at the same law firm as Mr. Giuliani, was never
formally nominated for the position by President Trump or confirmed by
the Senate.

In 2018, the United States attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions,
appointed Mr. Berman as interim United States attorney in Manhattan.

But President Trump never formally sent Mr. Berman’s nomination to the
Senate. After 120 days, his formal appointment to the post was made by
the judges of the United States District Court.

U.S. attorneys are typically replaced by their first assistants, but
Mr. Berman is being replaced by an outsider who has never worked in
that office.

It is a highly unusual decision, but it is not the first time this has
happened under Mr. Trump. When Jessie K. Liu left the United States
Attorney’s Office in Washington, she was replaced by an ally of Mr.
Barr, Timothy Shea, rather than her first assistant.

Maggie Haberman and Katie Benner contributed reporting.

Image Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission,
was nominated to be the new U.S. attorney in Manhattan.
Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was
nominated to be the new U.S. attorney in Manhattan.Credit...Shannon
Stapleton/Reuters

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