The New York Times reports:

President Trump on Saturday personally fired the United States Attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman, whose office has pursued one case after another that has rankled the president and his allies, putting his former personal lawyer in prison and investigating his current one.

It was the culmination of an extraordinary clash after years of tension between the White House and New York federal prosecutors.

In a letter released by the Justice Department, Attorney General William P. Barr accused of Mr. Berman of choosing “public spectacle over public service” because he would not voluntarily step down from the position.

“Because you have declared that you have no intention of resigning, I have asked the President to remove you as of today, and he has done so,” the letter read. Mr. Barr said Mr. Berman’s top deputy, Audrey Strauss, would become the acting United States Attorney.

The dismissal of Mr. Berman came after his office brought a series of highly sensitive cases that worried and angered Mr. Trump and others in his inner circle.

First, there was the arrest and prosecution in 2018 of Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s longtime legal fixer. Then, there was the indictment last year of a state-owned bank in Turkey with political connections that had drawn the president’s attention. More recently, the Manhattan prosecutors launched an inquiry into Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and one of his most ardent supporters.

These simmering tensions finally erupted Friday night in the most public fashion possible as Mr. Barr suddenly announced that Mr. Berman was stepping down — only to discover two hours later that Mr. Berman had made his own announcement: that he was going nowhere.

Given the number of sore spots between Mr. Trump’s Justice Department and its most prominent outpost, it remained unclear precisely what prompted Mr. Barr to seek Mr. Berman’s removal well after nightfall at the start of a summer weekend. At least two of the politically sensitive cases — involving the Turkish bank and Mr. Giuliani — remain ongoing.

Speaking briefly to reporters outside the White House before heading to a campaign rally in Tulsa., Okla., Mr. Trump appeared to contradict Mr. Barr and distance himself from the firing, saying he was “not involved.” [Continue reading…]

The New York Times also reports:

The whirlwind sequence — which began when Mr. Barr issued a statement Friday night falsely saying that Mr. Berman had stepped down and noting that he was appointing the U.S. attorney for New Jersey as his temporary successor — put a brief but intense focus on the question of who had legitimate authority to fire him.

Normally, under the Constitution, the power to remove government officials rests with whomever appointed them, except in instances where Congress set up an alternative mechanism. At issue is how that framework applies to the position of a U.S. attorney who was appointed by a court, as Mr. Berman was in 2018.

While the president appoints most U.S. attorneys following Senate confirmation, a law permits an attorney general to appoint a prosecutor to fill those vacancies for 120 days. If that temporary appointment expires, judges can fill it. A prosecutor appointed by the court will “serve until the vacancy is filled,” the statute says.

That is how Mr. Berman became U.S. attorney. He was initially appointed by the attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions, and federal judges in Manhattan reappointed him after the 120-day period expired. In his statement Friday night, Mr. Berman indicated that Mr. Barr could not fire him because he had been appointed by the court, and declared he intended to remain in office until the Senate confirms a successor.

However, another federal law says that U.S. attorneys may be removed by the president. On its face, it makes no exception for those appointed by courts. That raises the question of whether Congress has established that presidents may remove prosecutors appointed by courts. [Continue reading…]