NEW: Geoff BERMAN told Congress today that BARR repeatedly pushed him to resign — starting with a June 18 meeting at a NY hotel and ending with a phone call that night.

He refused and Barr announced his resignation anyway

BERMAN's opening statement: https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000173-347b-d439-a573-7eff89930000

According to Berman, Barr repeatedly tried to coax him to take other jobs, like running DOJ's civil division or even becoming SEC chairman.

He insisted the main reason was to get current SEC chairman into the prosecutor's job at SDNY.

Berman provided meticulous detail abotu his interactions with Barr, from the precise minutes of phone calls to the description of their June 18 hotel meeting.

"There were sandwiches
on the table, but nobody ate."

As an aside, I can't think of a better "Write a tragedy in 9 words or less" than:

"There were sandwiches on the table, but nobody ate."

MORE from Berman on the pressure he faced from Barr:

"The Attorney General said that if I did not resign from my position I would be fired. He added that getting fired from my job would not be good for my resume or future job prospects."

REMINDER: Barr is slated to testify to the Judiciary Committee on July 28. This will be atop the lengthy list of subjects the panel wants to grill him on.

NEW: Ousted U.S. Attorney Berman testifies that Barr repeatedly pressured him to resign https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/09/geoffrey-berman-testimony-william-barr-355196

JUST IN: Nadler suggests BARR is perilously close to criminal bribery in his handling of BERMAN matter.

"What we don't know yet is if the attorney general's conduct is criminal. But that kind of quid pro quo is awfully close to bribery."

NADLER emphasized that Barr kept attempting to entice Berman to leave with promise of a resume booster even after Berman refused him.

"We will certainly have a lot to discuss with Mr. Barr when we see him in a few weeks."