There's a new interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York which encompasses Manhattan, one of the most high-profile federal prosecutor posts in the country. Also a district where popular vote loser Donald Trump has property or business interests. So the news that he's tapped Geoffrey Berman, an ally and former law partner to Rudy Giuliani, is a red flag.
He'll be replacing Preet Bharara, a vocal Trump critic who Trump fired in March. Bharara has some concerns about his replacement.
Berman reportedly met with Trump about serving as the U.S. attorney in Manhattan late last year, and Bharara said that when the president personally interviewed him and other U.S. attorney candidates in districts where Trump had property or business interests, it "raises a number of questions."
Berman joins another 16 interim appointees Attorney General Jeff Sessions is appointing with his executive authority. These are all interim appointments, subject to Senate confirmation. Of the 93 positions total, Trump has officially nominated 58 people, and 46 have been confirmed. The slew of interim appointments comes when the terms of those serving on an acting basis had reached their deadline.
"As a former U.S. attorney myself, I have seen firsthand the impact that these prosecutors have and it is critical to have U.S. attorneys in place during this time of rising violent crime, a staggering increase in homicides, and an unprecedented drug crisis," Sessions said in a statement. "That is why, today, I am appointing 17 current and former federal prosecutors to serve as U.S. attorneys on an interim basis. Each has excellent prosecution skills and the temperament necessary to succeed in this critical role—and they have already proven that with a number of accomplishments on behalf of the American people."
This accomplishes another thing, though. It's sort of an end-run around Senate confirmation for these positions. These interim appointees can serve for 120 until Trump makes permanent nominations. Berman is Trump’s choice for the permanent position, an appointment New York’s Democratic senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have not signed off on.