A top federal prosecutor who was fired by former President Donald Trump in the summer of 2020 fought off the “worst of the attempted interference” from the White House despite ultimately being ousted, according to a new book set to be released on Tuesday.
The revelations are detailed in a forthcoming memoir from Geoffrey Berman, who was fired by Trump in June 2020 after opening investigations into several of the former president’s allies. Berman’s removal came after a public showdown with then-Attorney General William Barr and raised concerns among several lawmakers, with some seeking to investigate the matter further.
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“Our chief of security apologized for doing it so abruptly, explaining, ‘I was told to get you out of the office immediately,’” Berman wrote in Holding the Line, according to Axios. “But I did not leave with a sense of triumph. What I felt — and continue to feel — is worry … [It] is important to understand how fragile the system is and how vulnerable it can be when powerful people attempt to abuse it for political gain.”
The details offer a glimpse into what was happening behind the scenes as Barr and Berman publicly contradicted each other on the circumstances surrounding his departure.
The former attorney general initially suggested that Berman was resigning from his post, only to be met with a statement from Berman himself that he had “no intention of resigning” and that his “investigations [would] move forward without delay or interruption.” The next day, Barr announced Berman’s termination.
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Despite Barr naming Trump in his statement, the former president sought to distance himself from the decision, later telling reporters, “That’s his department, not my department,” according to NPR.
Berman had led several high-profile investigations into the former president’s allies, including Trump attorney Michael Cohen who ultimately pleaded guilty to campaign finance crimes and lying to Congress, according to the outlet. The former prosecutor had also issued indictments against Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who allegedly helped Rudy Giuliani’s smear efforts against Joe Biden and his son Hunter during the 2020 presidential campaign.
