In what is being increasingly dubbed the "Labor Day Massacre," President Donald Trump on Monday took a shot through Twitter against the U.S. Department of Justice for recent indictments of Reps. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., and Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif. — both among his earliest backers for president in 2016.
"Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well-publicized charge, just ahead of the midterms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department," Trump tweeted from the White House. "Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff . . ."
Aside from the implied suggestion Sessions should have ignored serious corruption charges against Collins and Hunter until after the elections in November, Trump's tweets are also rather shocking because the U.S. Attorneys who brought the charges against the lawmakers are both Republicans who rose to their prosecutorial positions under President Trump.
Geoffrey Berman, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, oversaw the indictment last month of Collins on charges of insider trading. Berman formerly practiced in the Greenberg Traurig firm in which Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani is a shareholder.
A graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (Trump's alma mater), Berman has contributed to numerous Republican candidates including Trump himself. In 2016, he made a $5,400 contribution to Trump's presidential campaign.
Initially an interim appointee as U.S. Attorney, Berman's status was extended after 120 days through an unusual and rarely used move by the judges of the U.S. District Court. With the White House failing to name a permanent U.S. Attorney, the judges unanimously voted to keep Berman as acting U.S. Attorney until a permanent replacement was selected.
Writing about the indictment of California's Hunter and his wife for gross misuse of campaign funds for personal purposes, Michael Smolens of The San Diego Union-Tribune noted the indictments came down "under Adam Braverman, a Republican who is the interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. He was appointed in November 2017 by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, also a Republican."
Braverman became an assistant U.S. Attorney in 2008 and has had a long history of prosecuting drug cartels and white collar crimes. His appointment as interim U.S. Attorney eight months ago was widely thought to be the prelude to permanent appointment to the prosecutorial post.
In June, however, the White House surprised the local legal community when the president instead named Bob Brewer, 73, past deputy district attorney in Los Angeles, for the permanent appointment.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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