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Geoffrey Berman

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:12 pm
by Bob78164
Donny tried to fire the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman. He had Barr announce Berman's resignation late last night. There's just one fly in the ointment. Donny didn't appoint Berman and Berman refuses to leave. After firing Preet Bharara, Donny left the position vacant so long that the judges of the United States District Court for the District of New York appointed him.

Berman says he's not going anywhere until the Senate confirms a successor. Donny is nominating someone, but Lindsay Graham has already said he's not taking up any nominations until the home-state Senators (Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand) return blue slips. Under the circumstances, you can imagine the likelihood of that happening, particularly since Donny's nominee is a corporate lawyer who's never prosecuted a case in his life, and probably has never set foot inside a courtroom since the day he became a lawyer.

It appears to be unclear whether Donny can appoint an Acting U.S. Attorney once the judges have appointed one.

I'm glad Donny is as incompetent as he is corrupt. --Bob

Re: Geoffrey Berman

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2020 4:08 pm
by silverscreenselect
Bob78164 wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:12 pm
Berman says he's not going anywhere until the Senate confirms a successor.
Barr now says that Trump can and did fire Berman. Only problem with that is that Trump currently denies it.

Re: Geoffrey Berman

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:55 pm
by Bob78164
silverscreenselect wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 4:08 pm
Bob78164 wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:12 pm
Berman says he's not going anywhere until the Senate confirms a successor.
Barr now says that Trump can and did fire Berman. Only problem with that is that Trump currently denies it.
I've looked at the governing statutes, 28 U.S.C. §§ 541, 546. The Office of Legal Counsel has a Carter-era memo saying that Barr is right. I think the OLC memo is unsound and that whether Donny can in fact fire Berman before the Senate confirms a successor is decidedly unclear. --Bob

Re: Geoffrey Berman

Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2020 6:13 am
by jarnon
Berman has agreed to step down after Barr relented and announced that Berman’s deputy Audrey Strauss would become acting U.S. Attorney, maintaining SDNY’s integrity.

Geoffrey Berman is leaving office immediately after standoff with Trump administration