Welcome to a special Talking Feds Now episode.

I'm Harry Littman.

Fasten your seatbelts.

It's going to be a bumpy ride.

Yesterday, Attorney General William Barr issued a press release saying that the U.S. Attorney

for the Southern District of New York, Jeffrey Berman, was resigning.

DOJ Alams read, resigning with a grain of salt, and inferred that Berman was being unceremoniously

sacked because of something to do with the investigations his office, traditionally the

most powerful and independent of the 94 U.S. Attorney's offices, was pursuing that came

too close to Trump and his circle.

It seemed one more disheartening instance of what John Bolton in his new book calls, quote,

obstruction of justice as a way of life, close quote, as investigators approached solid proof

of malfeasance by Trump or stone or Trump charity or Trump organization, Bill Barr

is ready to put the DOJ boot on the investigation's neck.

What nobody anticipated was Berman's comeback a few hours later in which he said, contrary

to Barr, he had not resigned.

He was in his office through the power of the court, not DOJ, and most pointedly that

he was sticking around to see the investigations through.

That instantly turned everything surreal.

It was a move that was equal parts cheeky and thrilling, leaving the Attorney General

and the most powerful U.S. Attorney in a high stakes standoff.

The pushback in favor of the rule of law and the continuation of the investigations involving

...