Attempt to fire powerful NY prosecutor appears to be latest move to protect Trump

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/20/politics/berman-barr-trump-rule-of-law/index.html

The Trump administration's attempt to oust one of America's most powerful prosecutors raises fresh and glaring suspicions about its assault on the independence of the justice system and its respect for the rule of law that underpins constitutional governance.

Attorney General William Barr's declaration he replaced Geoffrey Berman of the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York renewed the debate over the extent to which Barr is acting on President Donald Trump's interests rather than the nation's. The office of Berman, who is refusing to quit, is leading a probe into Trump's lawyer Rudolph Giuliani and associates and has also indicted a Turkish state-owned firm involved in an Iran sanctions-busting case which Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised with Trump. 

 

An already massive confrontation exploded further when Berman, in a stunning move, issued his own late-night statement rebuking Barr over his decision to oust him and refusing to go, arguing that since he was technically appointed by a panel of judges on an acting basis in 2018, Barr has no power to force him out and that he would continue to serve.