Former US attorney spills the beans on 'thuggish' Bill Barr's interference in SDNY cases

In his book "Holding the Line: Inside the Nation’s Preeminent US Attorney’s Office and Its Battle with the Trump Justice Department,” former U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman makes his case that former Attorney General Bill Barr put his thumb on the scales in cases that might reflect on Donald Trump. Using Barr's bungled attempt to rid himself of Berman -- that included issuing a public statement that Berman was stepping down after he turned down a job change -- which Berman immediately disputed, the attorney wrote about butting heads with Barr on several cases when he believed the former AG was acting like he was Donald Trump's personal advocate. According to the book, Berman told his bosses that his office would not be acting as "Trump’s personal lawyer,” which led to a dressing down by DOJ's Jeffrey Rosen -- who reportedly told him "he expected the Southern District to follow orders and sign whatever he put in front of us” -- who eventually became acting attorney general before having his own falling out with Trump over the former president's bogus election fraud claims. '” READ: Trump's MAGA judge can't save him: Legal woes pile up even after favorable special master ruling "Upon taking office, Barr tried to 'kill' the Southern District’s ongoing investigations relating to the campaign finance crimes to which Cohen had pleaded guilty," McQuade wrote.