Ousts U.S. attorney investigating his allies after Barr announces a resignation Berman denies

On the night of June 19, Attorney General William Barr announced by press release that Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was "stepping down." Berman responded that he had not resigned and had no intention of resigning, and that his office's investigations — which included Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and had produced prosecutions of Michael Cohen and Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — would continue without interruption. On June 20 Barr wrote to Berman that he had asked the president to remove him "and he has done so"; Trump told reporters the same day that the matter was "all up to the attorney general" and "I'm not involved," contradicting Barr's letter. Berman left after Barr agreed his deputy, Audrey Strauss, would take over as acting U.S. attorney. Critics, including former prosecutors, described the episode as the removal of a prosecutor whose office was investigating the president's associates.