House Judiciary just released the transcript of Berman’s testimony. He was the former head attorney of the SDNY office, who Barr announced was leaving his position last month, followed by Berman saying he was not resigning or stepping down. https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1282793351717236744

His testimony makes clear Barr tried to force him out of his position to appoint an unqualified person to oversee SDNY investigations. He made clear to Barr he would challenge this to protect the investigations in his department. Barr was obstructing justice on Trump’s behalf.

Berman’s reluctance to step down forced Barr to drop his attempt to appoint an unqualified Trump lackey in his place & instead replace him with Audrey Strauss, his deputy who he knew would preserve the integrity of the department’s investigations. Barr has to be forced to resign.

Berman described his meeting with Barr in detail. He said Barr tried to “entice him to resign” by offering him other high profile positions. He told Barr that he loved his job and was not interested in any other positions. His top priority was protecting SDNY investigations.

While Berman was not permitted to discuss the details of his firing (according to Barr), he still revealed them to the House Judiciary in his testimony: Barr was acting to impede, obstruct, or delay active SDNY investigations. This was only prevented by Berman’s resistance.

Republicans’ attempts to get Berman to say that what Barr offered him “was not a quid pro quo” were also a complete backfire, as Berman said that yes, he believed it was.

Here’s the full summary that was just released by @HouseJudiciary
https://twitter.com/housejudiciary/status/1282811492279160835?s=21 https://twitter.com/housejudiciary/status/1282811492279160835