stand, the White House and the DOJ would have subverted the chain of succession at the SDNY to install a pliant U.S. Attorney from New Jersey in Mr. Berman’s place. Thankfully, due to Mr. Berman’s courage that plan was thwarted". On June 20, 2020, House Judiciary Committee chair Jerry Nadler announced that the committee would "immediately open an investigation into this incident, as part of our broader investigation into Barr’s unacceptable politicization of the Department of Justice" and invited Berman to join two whistleblowers at an upcoming hearing about "a larger, ongoing, and wholly unacceptable pattern of conduct." Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said that Berman's firing “cannot be explained by cause and instead suggests base and improper motives. ... Judiciary Chairman Nadler’s renewed call for Barr to testify before the House Judiciary Committee and the Committee’s decision to open an immediate investigation into this incident are justified and urgently needed." On July 9, Berman testified before a closed session of the House Judiciary Committee. After his testimony was released, Representative Adam Schiff said that "Berman’s act of defiance" was a story "of great heroism". On August 20, 2020, the SDNY announced the indictment of Steve Bannon, Trump’s former campaign CEO, on wire fraud and money laundering charges. The charges were based on his taking for his personal use funds that were supposed to be dedicated to the building of a wall on the southern border. Several articles questioned whether the charges would have been brought if Berman had not blocked Barr's attempt to appoint an ally to replace him. On January 20, 2021, Trump granted Bannon a pardon from the federal charges. Berman refused to resign until his deputy was named to succeed him, which he said would ensure that the important cases of his office would continue without delay or interruption. On July 15, 2020, Stanford Law School announced Berman's appointment as the Edwin A. Heafey Jr. Visiting Professor of Law for the fall 2020 term. On November 19, 2021, at Damian Williams's investiture ceremony as the new U.S. Attorney for the SDNY, Williams praised Berman’s service. As reported by the Associated Press, Williams "sparked sustained applause when he mentioned Geoffrey S. Berman, a Republican who served as U.S. attorney during much of Donald Trump’s presidential term. Berman became known in what prosecutors like to affectionately call the 'Sovereign District of New York' for standing up to