Manhattan U.S. Attorney Berman refuses to leave after Trump says SEC chief Jay Clayton will replace him

Also last year, it was reported that the SDNY was among a group of federal investigative offices that were probing whether Deutsche Bank had complied with anti-money laundering and other laws.

Deutsche Bank has reportedly loaned billions of dollars to Trump’s company, and to companies controlled by the family of his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that a new book by Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton describes an interaction in May 2018, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave Trump a memo claiming that a Turkish firm being probed by Berman’s office for violating sanctions on Iran was innocent of such conduct. The firm is believed to be the state-run bank Halkbank, which Berman’s office was known to be investigating.

“Trump then told Erdogan he would take care of things, explaining that the Southern District prosecutors were not his people, but were Obama people, a problem that would be fixed when they were replaced by his people,” Bolton wrote in the book, “The Room Where it Happened: A White House Memoir,” according to The Post.

But Berman later obtained an indictment against Halkbank, and the case is still pending.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., in a tweet said, “America is right to expect the worst of Bill Barr, who has repeatedly interfered in criminal investigations on Trump’s behalf.“

“We have a hearing on this topic on Wednesday. We welcome Mr. Berman’s testimony and will invite him to testify,” Nadler wrote.

Barr in recent months overruled trial prosecutors to recommend a less severe criminal sentence for Roger Stone, a Republican operative who is a friend of Trump, and is seeking the dismissal of the criminal case against Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor, whose prosecution the president has criticized. Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his discussions with a Russian diplomat.

Clayton has not previously worked as a prosecutor, and reportedly would be the first non-prosecutor to lead the SDNY if he is confirmed. He previously was a partner at the white-shoe law firm Sullivan Cromwell.

Trump has appointed the current U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Craig Carpenito, to serve as the acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, while the Senate considers the nomination of Clayton.

Preet Bharara, whom Berman replaced after being fired by Trump, in a tweet asked, “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?”

Bharara wrote in another tweet, before Berman issued his statement, “Let me be stronger here. Berman ‘stepping down’ is bull—-. He was fired.”

When Berman said he would refuse to leave his job, Bharara said “good for him” during an appearance on CNN.

 A senior administration official told NBC News that Barr decided to replace Berman because Clayton planned to leave his SEC post and move back to New York, and had said he was interested in the SDNY job.

The official said Berman was offered and declined another position in the Justice Department

“It’s no reflection on Berman, but Barr regarded Clayton highly and thought he would be a good fit,” the official said.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/19/justice-department-replaces-federal-prosecutor-berman-with-sec-clayton.html