“I did not resign from my position assigned by the Judges of the District Court of the New York South District of the United States, and I do not intend to resign. A candidate appointed by the Presidency, Senate,” said Berman. “Our research will continue without delay or without interruption until then.”
Berman’s objection came about an hour after the Justice Department announced Trump’s intention to nominate Jay Clayton, president of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who was never a prosecutor.
A Justice Ministry official told CNN that Berman had been offered other positions in Justice, including his deputy chief prosecutor. Berman refused.
A second source knowing the subject said that Berman was asked to resign and be rejected. Chief Prosecutor William Barr said he wanted Berman to resign during a face-to-face meeting in New York on Friday.
Tensions between the New York and Washington offices proceeded with Berman and Barr to deal with certain cases, including the Turkish bank Halkbank’s indictment.
Last fall, Justice Ministry officials discussed replacing Berman with a senior official, Ed O’Callaghan, but later prosecutors expressed his partners Giuliani, a movement that seemed to extend Berman’s mandate.
The timing of the movement was announced shortly before 22:00. ET immediately asked questions about the circumstances of Berman’s departure.
“There may be anger over how some of the previous investigations were made with respect to the president, his partners, his former lawyer, Michael Cohen and others.”
And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, “leads to potential corruption of the legal process late Friday night. What is President Trump’s anger? This is a previous action by the US Lawyer or an ongoing action?”
Clayton was corporate lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell before Trump was nominated for a SEC post. If confirmed, Clayton is not the first prosecutor to lead SDNY.
Justice official said that Barr and Clayton have known each other for years and Clayton is planning to return to NY. The justice official expressed interest in SDNY’s business and Barr agreed.
Barr said that Trump is now serving the United States New Jersey District Attorney Craig Carpenito as the deputy of New York’s South Region until Clayton is confirmed. Carpenito will start his role on July 3.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
CNN’s Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.
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