On June 20 the president continued his pattern of weekend firings by unexpectedly terminating Geoffery Berman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Berman had been overseeing many high-profile investigations, including one into President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Berman’s firing, while legal, did not follow regular norms and patterns. In conjunction with other recent firings, it raises questions about Trump’s repeated removal of government officials actively investigating claims against his administration and his associates. In April and May, President Trump fired five inspectors general, including those looking into allegations of impropriety at the State Department, Department of Defense, and Department of Health and Human Services. Congress has the responsibility to protect our government and its employees from arbitrary and self-interested actions by any presidential administration.
To Do:
Contact your members of Congress to let them know you are aware of and concerned about these firings. Ask that investigations overseen by the Southern District of New York and the terminated inspectors general continue unimpeded. In less than five minutes, you can submit a letter to all of your elected representatives at once via our website. You have the option to either write your own letter or answer some short prompts to have a personalized letter created for you. Go HERE to submit a letter.
Background:
Attorney General Barr unexpectedly fired U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffery Berman on June 20. Berman had been overseeing an investigation into Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The firing, which was initially announced after 9 p.m. on June 19, is unusual but not illegal. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “the firing appeared to have ‘base and improper motives,’” while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for an investigation into the firing, saying it “reeked of potential corruption of the legal process.” Political backlash after the firing of a U.S. attorney is not without precedent. In 2007 President George W. Bush fired seven U.S. attorneys in a single day and faced accusations of political motivations and impropriety.
Perhaps most concerning about Trump’s move, however, is how it establishes a pattern of firing government officials who are providing oversight into the Trump administration and the president’s associates. Over a period of six weeks in April and May, the Trump administration fired five inspectors general. You can read more about those firings in MWEG’s call to action from May 27, 2020.
This abuse of power violates multiple MWEG Principles of Ethical Government, including:
(1) Every government official and institution has a duty to respect the rule of law, including accepted processes for how the law is to be established, executed, and interpreted.
(a) People in positions of power should not lightly violate or discard long-standing political norms, especially norms that serve to limit the abuse of power (see D&C 121:39). (b) Government officials and institutions should be honest and transparent, insofar as possible without harming national security and individual rights (see D&C 123:13; Alma 37:25). (c) Elected and appointed officials and government employees alike must eschew conflicts of interest and avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in fidelity to the public trust. Appointees to specialized government roles should be well-qualified to serve in those roles (see Mosiah 29:35-36 and D&C 134:3).
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