THE US attorney who led probes into key allies of President Trump has sensationally insisted he will not resign – roughly an hour after Attorney General Barr said he was suddenly stepping down.
In a statement shared on Twitter, Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said, “I am not resigning, and I have no intention of resigning.”
Berman’s refusal to leave his position sets up a potential crisis in the Justice Department, which Barr has been accused of politicizing by Democrats.
Just hours earlier on Friday evening, Barr said in a statement that Berman would be resigning from his post.
The attorney general added that Trump intends to nominate Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who has never server as a prosecutor, to the post.
Craig Carpenito, the US attorney in New Jersey, will serve as the acting US attorney in Manhattan from July 3, Barr said.
Barr’s announcement came with no notice after he visited New York City and met with local police officials there.
But it was unclear why Berman would leaving the position, which he has served in for more than two years.
According to the New York Times, Berman was asked to resign but he refused, leading Bar to move to fire him.
President Trump has been discussing removing Berman for some time, the Times report added.
In his statement, Berman said that he had learned he was “stepping down” in a press release from the Justice Department.
He added: “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, a Republican who contributed to the Trump’s election campaign, worked for the same law firm as Giuliani and was put in his job by the Trump administration.
As a US attorney, however, Berman won over some skeptics when he went after Trump allies.
Berman’s office took an aggressive approach in a number of cases tied to that frustrated the Trump administration – including guilty pleas obtained from Michael Cohen, Trump’s long-time fixer, who was sent to prison.
Berman recused himself from directly overseeing the investigation of Cohen for reasons that were never disclosed.
Trump, too, has been angered by a series of investigations that Berman has been involved in.
His office subpoenaed Trump’s inaugural committee for a wide range of financial and other documents as part of an investigation into potential crimes – including possible illegal contributions from foreigners.
Weeks before the 2018 midterm election, Berman also announced insider trading charges against an ardent Trump supporter, Republican Rep. Chris Collins, who has since resigned.
Over the last year, his office also brought indictments against two close associates of the president’s lawyer, Rudi Giuliani.
An investigation into Giuliani himself also began, focusing on his efforts to dig up dirt on the president’s political rivals in Ukraine, and whether these could have violated laws on lobbying from foreign entities.
Berman’s office also brought charges against Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who represented porn actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits involving Trump.
Avenatti was convicted earlier this year of trying to extort sportswear giant Nike after prosecutors said he threatened to use his media access to hurt Nike’s reputation and stock price.
The Southern District of New York also requested testimony from Britain’s Prince Andrew, as part of a criminal investigation into the alleged co-conspirators of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports.
