US legal professional in Georgia changed “by written order from the President”

Top line

The U.S. Department of Justice announced a new acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia on Tuesday after the previous attorney unexpectedly resigned after President Donald Trump’s controversial phone call with Georgian Foreign Secretary Brad Raffensperger and new questions about the rationale behind the move Had raised the shock.

President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in support of Georgia Senate candidates in Dalton, Georgia, … [+] January 4, 2021. (AP Photo / Brynn Anderson)

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Important facts

Former US Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak, whom Trump appointed to the position in 2017, resigned Monday, days after Trump said he was “never a trumper” in his controversial phone call with Raffensperger, who tried to overturn the election results -US lawyer “had referred.

Pak gave no reason for leaving, and Talking Points Memo, which first covered his departure and replacement, reports that he “previously indicated” that he would not leave the position until President-elect Joe Biden took office competed on January 20.

Pak has been replaced by Bobby L. Christine, who already serves as the US attorney for the southern district of Georgia and will now oversee both districts.

Christine, who appointed Trump to the Southern District in 2017, was appointed to the Northern District position on Monday “by order of the President”, according to the Justice Department website.

Appointing Christie in place of the U.S. assistant attorney, who was appointed a career as a prosecutor for the DOJ rather than Trump, is unusual, former federal attorney Jennifer Rodgers told Law & Crime, as it is traditional for an attorney’s successor to be an alternate of is within her office.

What to look out for

Rodgers, a former southern New York borough attorney, suggested the shake could anticipate possible action in the Georgia borough, which includes Atlanta, before Trump leaves office. “Do you have any major administrative inquiries that you might want to do something in those final moments of slack, or are you trying to get things going, like the way Bill Barr appointed John Durham to the office? Do you have any major administrative inquiries?” Investigations he’s made? ”Rodgers told Law & Crime, referring to an ongoing investigation into the origins of the investigation into the potential links of the 2016 Trump campaign with Russia.

Key background

Pak’s sudden departure and replacement isn’t the first U.S. attorney upheaval to spark controversy. Other personnel changes, such as Trump’s abrupt dismissal of U.S. Attorney General Geoffrey Berman, who ran the southern borough of New York, were also seen as a cause for concern and a sign of Trump’s possible influence over the DOJ, which has traditionally been independent of political interference. The attorney overhaul comes as the president has been focusing his attention on Georgia for the past few days, with an audio recording of Trump’s phone call Saturday with Raffensperger, revealing that the president has asked the Secretary of State to find enough votes to bring the results overturn the presidential election. Trump has harshly criticized the Republican leadership of the state following President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia, as GOP officials like Raffensperger and electoral officer Gabriel Sterling vigorously denounced Trump’s false claims of electoral fraud in the state and refused to help overthrow Biden Victory.

further reading

By “written orders from the President,” Trump installs a US attorney to replace one he appeared to beat on the Raffensperger (Law and Crime) phone call

Trump Bypasses Senior Career Attorney To Appoint New Acting U.S. Attorney In Atlanta (Talking Points Memo)

US attorney appointed by Trump to resign in Georgia (Associated Press)

“Fellas, I need 11,000 votes”: Trump urges Georgia officials to overturn the election in a leaked audio clip (Forbes)