Ousted U.S. Prosecutor Berman to Be Interviewed by House Panel

(Bloomberg) -- Geoffrey Berman, ousted as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York amid ongoing investigations of President Donald Trump’s businesses and inaugural committee, is scheduled to be interviewed next week by the House Judiciary Committee.

The transcribed interview will occur behind closed doors on Thursday, according to a congressional aide.

Berman left the job on June 20 after a standoff with Attorney General William Barr and confusion over whether Trump had fired him. Berman initially refused to step aside to protect sensitive investigations being run by his office in Manhattan.

Berman resigned after Barr changed his choice of who would replace him, picking instead Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, a trusted prosecutor in the office who had already been overseeing Trump-related investigations.

The interview Thursday comes as Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler has been leading committee scrutiny of alleged political pressure and influence from top Justice Department officials, and even the White House -- on prosecutorial decision making in investigations.

Since Trump took office, federal prosecutors in New York have pursued several investigations of the president, his companies and people close to him. That includes the prosecution of Trump’s onetime personal lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen, and a current investigation involving Trump ally Rudy Giuliani and efforts to secure political dirt in Ukraine on presidential rival Joe Biden.

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