Justice Department Chief Dick Durbin sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday, saying, “These reports point to a shocking and unacceptable departure from the department’s mission to pursue impartial justice, whose prosecution decisions must be free from political influence.”
“They add to serious concerns already raised by then-Attorney General Barr’s efforts to turn Mr. Berman into a Trump loyalist in 2020,” the Illinois Democrat wrote.
“If accurate, Mr. Berman’s claims represent multiple instances of political interference in the Department’s investigations and litigation decisions,” he wrote. “The Senate Judiciary Committee will investigate these episodes.”
Welcoming the committee’s investigation, Berman told MSNBC Monday night, “I think it needs to shine a light on this kind of outrageous behavior that has really corrupted the judiciary and turned it into a political tool for the president.”
Describing why he wrote the book, “Holding the Line,” to be released Tuesday, he said he wanted people to “understand the full scope of Trump’s outrageous and improper political interference in cases in the Southern District of New York.”
“It demonstrates what Trump is capable of and what he’s likely to do, and it also provides a first-hand look at how vulnerable our justice system is,” he said.
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