Powerful U.S. attorney who angered Trump refuses to step down, vows probes will continue

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Justice Department said Friday night that the powerful U.S. attorney who oversaw key prosecutions of President Donald Trump’s allies and an investigation of his personal lawyer Rudy Giulani had left his job, but he insisted he was not departing and his ongoing investigations would continue.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a statement that Geoffrey S. Berman was stepping down as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Sources familiar with the decision told ABC News that President Trump himself had made the decision to fire Berman.

The surprise move comes two years into a tenure that included the high-profile prosecutions of another Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, and financier pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Berman’s office is one of the nation’s top districts, also trying major mob and terror cases.

Berman issued his own extraordinary statement late Friday night saying he had no intention of taking the apparent firing in stride.

“I learned in a press release from the Attorney General tonight that I was ‘stepping down’ as United States Attorney,” he said. “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 U.S. Senate.”

“Until then, our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption,” he continued. “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.”

Berman has also overseen the prosecution of two Florida businessmen, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who were associates of Giuliani and tied to the Ukraine impeachment investigation. The men were charged in October with federal campaign finance violations, including hiding the origin of a $325,000 donation to a group supporting Trump’s reelection.

Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Giuliani’s business dealings, including whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, according to people familiar with the probe. The people were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Any forced ouster of Berman is likely to send a shockwave through Washington, as it comes ahead of the release of former national security adviser John Bolton’s book, in which Bolton details an exchange that Trump had with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the Southern District.

Bolton’s tell-all, excerpts of which were posted by the news media this week, included details on how Trump sought to cut a deal to halt SDNY’s investigation into whether U.S. sanctions against Iran were violated in order to free an American pastor imprisoned in Turkey. Six weeks after the pastor’s release, Bolton writes that on a call with Erdoğan, “Trump then told Erdoğan 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.” The episode occurred months after Berman assumed the role of U.S. attorney.

A Republican who contributed to the president’s election campaign, Berman worked for the same law firm as Giuliani and was put in his job by the Trump administration. But as U.S. attorney, he won over some skeptics after he went after Trump allies.

Berman was appointed by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January 2018, months after Bharara was fired after refusing to resign along with dozens of other federal prosecutors appointed by President Barack Obama.

Three months later, FBI agents raided Cohen’s offices, an act the president decried as a politically motivated witch hunt.

The following April, in the absence of a formal nomination by Trump, the judges in Manhattan federal court voted to appoint Berman to the position permanently. He has taken a direct hand in other investigations that have angered Trump.

His office subpoenaed Trump’s inaugural committee for a wide range of documents as part of an investigation into various potential crimes, including possible illegal contributions from foreigners to inaugural events.

And weeks before the 2018 midterm election, Berman announced insider trading charges against an ardent Trump supporter, Republican Rep. Chris Collins. Collins, who represented western New York, has since resigned.

Under Berman’s tenure, his office also brought charges against Michael Avenatti, the combative lawyer who gained fame by representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits involving Trump. Avenatti was convicted in February of trying to extort Nike after prosecutors said he threatened to use his media access to hurt Nike’s reputation and stock price unless the sportswear giant paid him up to $25 million.