Advertisement
Supported by
The allegations of political motivation are in a new book by the former U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman.
Send any friend a story
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.
By Benjamin Weiser
The Senate Judiciary Committee will investigate allegations that the Justice Department under President Donald J. Trump sought to use the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan to support Mr. Trump politically and pursue his critics, the committee’s chairman said on Monday.
The allegations are in a new book by Geoffrey S. Berman, who was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2018 through June 2020, when he was fired by Mr. Trump.
The chairman, Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, made the announcement in a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, which cited a New York Times report on Thursday detailing the book’s allegations.
Mr. Berman’s book portrays Trump Justice Department officials as motivated by partisan concerns as they tried to initiate criminal investigations or block them, The Times reported.
The book, “Holding the Line,” was obtained by The Times in advance of its scheduled publication on Tuesday.
Numerous inquiries. Since former President Donald J. Trump left office, he has been facing several civil and criminal investigations into his business dealings and political activities. Here is a look at some notable cases:
Classified documents inquiry. The F.B.I. searched Mr. Trump’s Florida home as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into his handling of classified materials. The inquiry is focused on documents that Mr. Trump had brought with him to Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence, when he left the White House.
Jan. 6 investigations. In a series of public hearings, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack laid out a comprehensive narrative of Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. This evidence could allow federal prosecutors, who are conducting a parallel criminal investigation, to indict Mr. Trump.
Georgia election interference case. Fani T. Willis, the Atlanta-area district attorney, has been leading a wide-ranging criminal investigation into the efforts of Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. This case could pose the most immediate legal peril for the former president and his associates.
New York State civil inquiry. Letitia James, the New York attorney general, has been conducting a civil investigation into Mr. Trump and his family business. The case is focused on whether Mr. Trump’s statements about the value of his assets were part of a pattern of fraud or were simply Trumpian showmanship.
Manhattan criminal case. Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, has been investigating whether Mr. Trump or his family business intentionally submitted false property values to potential lenders. But the inquiry faded from view after signs emerged suggesting that Mr. Trump was unlikely to be indicted.
Mr. Durbin said in his letter, “These reported claims indicate astonishing and unacceptable deviations from the department’s mission to pursue impartial justice, which requires that its prosecutorial decisions be free from political influence.”
He added that the allegations “also compound the already serious concerns” raised by then-Attorney General William P. Barr’s efforts in 2020 “to replace Mr. Berman with a Trump loyalist.”
Mr. Berman’s dismissal came after he refused Mr. Barr’s request to resign. Mr. Barr had sought to replace him with an ally of the administration.
Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Mr. Garland, confirmed the receipt of Mr. Durbin’s letter and declined to comment.
Mr. Barr did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesman for Mr. Trump.
“As anyone who reads my book will know, I believe in proper process. I am happy to cooperate with any congressional inquiry,” Mr. Berman said Monday.
Mr. Durbin, in his letter, points to several claims of political interference by department officials that Mr. Berman made.
In one case, Mr. Berman describes how Mr. Barr, after taking office in February 2019, suggested that the conviction of Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former lawyer, for violating campaign finance laws be reversed. Mr. Barr also sought to stop related investigations into possible campaign finance violations, the book says.
A Southern District official later persuaded Mr. Barr that there was no basis to drop any charges against Mr. Cohen and that the investigations should be completed, the book says. The inquiry ended without additional charges being filed.
In another case, Mr. Berman writes that department officials pressured the Southern District to prosecute the former secretary of state John Kerry, and when Mr. Berman’s office investigated and declined to bring charges, the department sent the matter to another U.S. attorney’s office, which also declined to prosecute.
In yet another episode, Mr. Berman writes that in September 2018, a department official called Mr. Berman’s deputy two months before the November midterms. After citing the recent prosecutions of two prominent Trump loyalists, the official said the office, which had been investigating Gregory B. Craig, a powerful Democratic lawyer, should charge him — and do so by Election Day.
“It’s time for you guys to even things out,” the official, Edward O’Callaghan, the principal associate deputy attorney general, told Mr. Berman’s deputy, according to the book.
In a brief interview last week, Mr. O’Callaghan, after being told of the statements attributed to him, called them “categorically false.”
When Mr. Berman’s office declined to prosecute Mr. Craig, the department sent the investigation to federal prosecutors in Washington, where Mr. Craig was indicted and tried on a single count of making false statements. He was acquitted by a jury in less than five hours.
Mr. Durbin, in his letter to Mr. Garland, asked the department to provide the Judiciary Committee with all documents and communications between the department and the Southern District related to the Cohen, Kerry and Craig episodes detailed in the book.
Advertisement

source