Former Manhattan prosecutor alleges Trump tried to undermine integrity of office

by Brad Dress - 04/28/22 10:22 AM ET

An upcoming memoir from a former Manhattan federal prosecutor alleges that Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) made “blatant efforts to bring weak cases against political foes and squash worthy cases that threatened to tarnish allies” and the former president.

Geoffrey Berman, who was the US Attorney for the Southern District in New York before he was fired by Trump in June 2020, says in a summary of his upcoming memoir, “Holding the Line: Inside the Nation’s Preeminent US Attorney’s Office and Its Battle with the Trump Justice Department,” that former Attorney General William Barr corrupted the DOJ.

“When Bill Barr became Attorney General, Berman hoped and believed things would get better, but instead they got much worse,” reads a summary of the memoir on Amazon. “Trump and Barr, fed up with Berman’s principles, summarily fired him, though he refused to go quietly and prevented Barr from installing someone who might be more compliant.”

The memoir, which also details Berman’s casework against the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is slated to be released on Sept. 13. Berman also oversaw cases involving Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and against Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Rudy Giuliani.

Berman was tapped by Trump in 2018 to replace outgoing US attorney Preet Bharara, who was similarly fired by the Trump administration.

Trump has been accused of various instances of either weaponizing his DOJ against political opponents, or using it to protect himself and allies.

Trump pressed for investigations into his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton, and under his leadership, the DOJ dropped a case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn and intervened in sentencing against Trump’s former associate Roger Stone.

After losing the 2020 election and claiming it was stolen, Trump also pressured Barr to investigate the election fraud, which ultimately fractured the relationship between the attorney general and former president when Barr stood by the election results.