Opposing view: U.S. attorneys serve at a president’s pleasure

In announcing the resignation of Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Attorney General Bill Barr was following a standard set by Janet Reno in 1993. At the start of her tenure as attorney general for then-President Bill Clinton, Reno went on to fire 93 attorneys out of 94 U.S. federal districts.

Since that time there has been an understanding that the president has the right to hire his own people to get his policies enacted.

President Barack Obama removed politically appointed ambassadors that had been put in place by President George W. Bush in 2008. In 2009, Obama removed Gerald Walpin, inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service, who happened to be investigating an Obama donor at the time. There was little media outrage or outrage by the Democratic Party at the time of those removals. Trump campaigned on getting his guys in and removing those who were against his agenda when promising to drain the swamp. Now Trump is delivering on those promises and we have “T.D.S.” in full effect. No, not Trump Derangement Syndrome, but rather Trump Double Standard where this is only an issue because it’s Trump.

made clear that a “President may at any time remove the judicially appointed United States Attorney,” which is what happened in this case. U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president, and if the president wants the attorney removed, he has the right to do so.

The smearing of Barr has been going on from the moment he’s been investigating the possible bad actors in the Russia investigation, which is too close to home for the Democratic Party. The hope is that by repeating “Barr is corrupt and doing Trump’s bidding,” his reputation will be tarnished.

The chief reason the Democrats have a problem with removing Berman is the belief that Trump is doing it in order to cover up or halt ongoing investigations into Trump or his associates. This concern is meritless as, even with Berman removed, any active investigations will continue to be carried forward by the current officials working on them.

Furthermore, Berman wasn’t to be fired completely as he was said to be offered a position as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The premise that Barr is corrupt for removing Berman isn’t based on any facts.