House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Attorney General William Barr “a blob” and accused him Tuesday of being “a henchman” for President Donald Trump. He expressed interest in SDNY and the Attorney General thought it was a good idea, according to the official.Trump, departing the White House on Saturday afternoon for a rally in Oklahoma, didn’t confirm he had taken any action on Berman.Berman will be replaced by Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, a trusted prosecutor in the office who had already been overseeing Trump-related investigations, Barr said. So did most of the Democrats who are calling for a fuller investigation of the attorney general and pointing to glaring inconsistencies in his statements.Of course, he would paint Mueller's report in the best possible light for the man who appointed him. On Friday night, the attorney general said the interim role would be filled by Craig Carpenito, currently the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, but he backed off on that and appointed Strauss.In his ongoing investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes and those who enabled his behavior, Berman just this month publicly refuted a statement from Prince Andrew’s U.K. lawyers that he has repeatedly sought to talk to American investigators. Clayton was getting ready to leave the administration and go back to New York, the person said. But when black people and people of color protest police brutality, systemic racism, and the president’s very own lack of response to those critical issues, then you forcibly remove them with armed federal officers and pepper bombs, because they are considered terrorists by the president.”She asked Barr why he felt it was necessary for federal officers to “tear gas, pepper spray, and beat protesters” in Washington, D.C., so that President Trump could pose in front of St. John’s Church holding a Bible for a photo op. That’s political malpractice.A highly anticipated forthcoming report from U.S. Attorney John Durham on the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation won’t trigger a Justice Department policy against interference in the 2020 presidential race, so the review could be released in the weeks leading up to the November election, Attorney General William Barr indicated to Congress Tuesday.But the protesters who were present on Tuesday evening disputed the NYPD’s version of events, insisting that they did not physically engage with the officers, even at the time of the arrest.The five-hour hearing, Mr. Barr’s first on Capitol Hill in more than a year, grew increasingly heated as Democrats spoke over his attempts to respond to their accusations. Bush, and his nomination was approved unanimously by the Democratically-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee.Mostly, though, he has spent his career as a lawyer, not a partisan politician. He said on Twitter that what happened Friday wasn’t standard procedure.Berman, who signaled he’d fight to keep his position to protect sensitive investigations being run by his office in Manhattan, said on Saturday evening that he would step down after Barr switched course on who would take over for him on an interim basis.On enforcement matters at the SEC, Clayton, a political independent, has been willing to penalize firms accused of wrongdoing over Republican objections.
I would have thought of him as the kind of Republican who would never have fired Archibald Cox — the Watergate special prosecutor who then-Attorney General Elliot Richardson was assigned to fire but didn't and resigned himself instead — or fired Robert Mueller.No man, even the president — especially the president — is above the law.The point is, I would have expected better from him.