海角大神

An extraordinary standoff between the Justice Department and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman ended Saturday when the prosecutor agreed to leave his job with an assurance that his investigations into allies of President Donald Trump would not be disturbed.

[Editor's note: This article has been updated throughout, from its original version, after Mr. Berman reversed course late Saturday and agreed to step down.]听

The announcement capped two days of conflicting statements, allegations of political interference in prosecutions, and defiance from Berman. On Saturday, Attorney General William Barr said Mr. Berman鈥檚 refusal to resign under pressure prompted President Donald Trump to fire him. Mr.听Trump tried to distance himself from the dispute, telling reporters the decision 鈥渨as all up to the attorney general.鈥�

This episode deepened tensions between the Justice Department and congressional Democrats, who have accused Mr. Barr of politicizing the agency and acting more like Mr. Trump鈥檚 personal lawyer than the country鈥檚 chief law enforcement officer. It also raised questions about ongoing investigations in the Southern District of New York, most notably a probe into Rudy Giuliani, the president鈥檚 personal attorney.

Mr. Barr set off the whirlwind chain of events on Friday night with a surprise announcement that Mr.听Berman was resigning, without explanation. But Mr.听Berman insisted he had not resigned, was not stepping down and his investigations would continue.

On Saturday morning, he showed up to work, telling reporters, 鈥淚鈥檓 just here to do my job."

Hours later, Mr.听Barr announced Mr.听Berman's firing.

鈥淯nfortunately, with your statement of last night, you have chosen public spectacle over public service,鈥� Mr.听Barr wrote in a letter released by the Justice Department. He said the idea that Mr.听Berman had to continue on the job to safeguard investigations was 鈥渇alse.鈥�

Although Mr.听Barr said Mr. Trump had removed Mr.听Berman, the president told reporters: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 all up to the attorney general. Attorney General Barr is working on that. That鈥檚 his department, not my department." Mr.听Trump added: 鈥淚 wasn't involved.鈥�

The administration鈥檚 push to cast aside Mr.听Berman amounted to a political and constitutional clash between the Justice Department and one of the nation鈥檚 top districts, which has tried major mob, financial crimes, and terrorism cases over the years.

Only days ago, allegations surfaced from former Trump national security adviser John Bolton that the president sought to interfere in an investigation by Mr.听Berman鈥檚 office into the state-owned Turkish bank in an effort to cut deals with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo臒an.

Mr.听Berman initially vowed to stay on the job until a replacement was confirmed. He changed his mind late Saturday after Mr.听Barr said he would allow Mr.听Berman's second in command, Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, to become acting U.S. attorney.

Mr.听Berman said Ms. Strauss' appointment signaled that Barr had decided 鈥渢o respect the normal operation of law." He said he was stepping down immediately.

The administration's efforts to replace Mr.听Berman with a handpicked replacement, however, were already running into roadblocks before Mr.听Barr agreed to install Ms. Strauss.

After announcing Mr.听Berman's resignation, the White House said it was nominating Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton, a well-connected Wall Street lawyer with virtually no experience as a federal prosecutor, for the job.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a close Trump ally, said he was unlikely to proceed with Mr. Clayton鈥檚 nomination unless New York鈥檚 senators, Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, gave their consent to the pick.

Senator Schumer said the bid to oust Mr.听Berman 鈥渞eeks of potential corruption of the legal process," and Senator Gillibrand said she would 鈥渘ot be complicit鈥� in helping fire a prosecutor investigating corruption. Both lawmakers called for Mr.听Clayton to withdraw from consideration.

Senator Schumer also called for the department鈥檚 inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate Mr.听Berman's ouster. And the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said Mr.听Berman has an open invitation to testify before his panel.

Mr.听Berman, a Republican who contributed to the president鈥檚 election campaign, worked for the same law firm as Mr.听Giuliani and was personally interviewed by Mr. Trump before being tapped as U.S. attorney. But he won over some skeptics after overseeing numerous prosecutions and investigations with ties to Mr. Trump.

Though Mr.听Berman is said to be unclear about the exact reason he was fired, people familiar with his thinking said his job had always seemed in jeopardy and he never had the sense it was secure.

Among the most high profile investigations he was overseeing was into Mr.听Giuliani鈥檚 business dealings, including whether he failed to register as a foreign agent. Charges in the case do not appear imminent, according to people familiar with the matter. They were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Southern District has also prosecuted a number of Trump associates, including Mr. Trump鈥檚 former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who served a prison sentence for lying to Congress and campaign finance crimes. Mr.听Cohen was听听from a federal prison to continue serving his sentence on home confinement over coronavirus concerns.

Mr.听Berman has overseen the prosecution of two Florida businessmen, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who were associates of Mr.听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 Mr.听Trump鈥檚 reelection.

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

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writers Colleen Long, Eric Tucker, Zeke Miller, and Marcy Gordon in Washington; and Tom Hays and Kevin Hagen in New York contributed to this report.

Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It鈥檚 free.