Trump asked for recused official to lead investigation into hush payments: report

President Donald Trump asked then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker whether the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, could be put in charge of the investigation into Trump's role in silencing women with hush payments, the New York Times reported, citing "several American officials with direct knowledge of the call." Berman had recused himself from that investigation. The investigation has been led by Robert Khuzami. According to the report, Trump "soon soured" on Whitaker -- it said there's no evidence Whitaker took any steps to intervene -- and complained about Whitaker's inability to make the president's legal problems go away. The report more broadly discusses Trump's "two-year war" on the investigations encircling him.

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