SDNY's Berman says he had 'serious concerns' about Bill Barr's efforts to lie about his ouster

On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee released the transcripts of former Southern District of New York prosecutor Geoffrey Berman.

One of the key points Berman emphasized, according to the transcript, was that he was unsettled by the effort of Attorney General William Barr to plant the falsehood that he had resigned of his own free will. "The irregular and unexplained actions by the Attorney General raised serious concerns for me," he said.

Among the concerns he had, according to the transcript, was "Why did the Attorney General say that I was stepping down when he knew I had neither resigned nor been fired? Why did the Attorney General not tell me the actual reason he was asking me to resign instead of saying that it was to get [Jay] Clayton into the position? And why did he announce the appointment of Craig Carpenito as acting U.S. attorney when Audrey Strauss was the logical and normal successor?"