Former Barack Obama counsel Gregory Craig was indicted by Donald Trump's Justice Department, and according to a new book by a former prosecutor at the Southern District of New York, the case was all part of a partisan plot ahead of the election. The alleged directive came straight from the top: Donald Trump.
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow got a copy of the book, which begins with Geoffrey Berman saying that he was told that as a Republican he needed to "take one for the team" and do the indictments against Democrats to "even the score."
"My lead deputy, Robert Khuzami, recieved an urgent phone call from a top official at the U.S. Department of Justice," Berman's book begins. "The [2018] midterm elections were less than two months away. The results would determine not just which party would control the House and Senate, but also if the next two years of the Trump presidency would be plagued by investigations. He spoke with a high-level Trump political appointee at the Justice Department. His message was unambiguous. It was time for me, Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and lifelong Republican, it was time for me to take one for the home team."
Khuzami came into Berman's office, "You're not going to believe the conversation I just had with Ed O'Callaghan, before sharing the details. The top leadership at DOJ wanted me to bring criminal charges against a private attorney who had once been President Barack Obama's White House counsel and they wanted me to bring those charges before Election Day."
"You have got to be f'ing kidding me," Berman recalled saying.
"I wish," he said, "but no."
He said there was no evidence of any law that he'd broken. O'Callaghan kept reminding Khuzami that the SDNY had already prosecuted two high-profile Trump loyalists: Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) and former Trump fixer Michael Cohen. "It's time for you guys to even things out," O'Callaghan said.
Berman refused. He was then fired — and fired loudly. Now he's speaking out, saying that Bill Barr, Jeffrey Rosen, Ed O'Callaghan and Rich Donoghue all used the Justice Department to fight Trump opponents or anyone even associated with Democrats.
The book goes on and on about ethical breaches, illegal behavior and details that could end in disbarring several lawyers.
Monday evening, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced that it would be conducting a hearing into the accusations included in the Berman book.
Berman told Maddow that he's certain that there will be documents to prove what was done.
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Feds claim there are no documents on record that apply to a so-called Trump 'declassification order'
See the report on Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin's (D-IL) intentions here.
