Lee Bentley III is a U.S. Attorney in Florida who was appointed by former President Obama in 2014. Last Friday, Bentley got a notice from President Trump to hand in his resignation and clean out his office. Lee Bentley has only served the Middle District of Florida for only a few years. So why is Trump adherent to cleaning out Obama appointees?
Erasing Obama
Many of the appointed officials who were assigned during Obama's presidency are considered holdovers. It means that they were appointed near the end of the Obama administration and are holding onto their position until President Trump chooses the new nominees.
There are only 46 remaining U.S. attorneys that were appointed by former President Obama that President Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggests should be removed from office before the new U.S. Attorneys that would be announced by President Trump.
It is still undetermined whether or not Lee Bentley has turned in his resignation to President Trump as well as whether or not President Trump may reject any of the resignations from other U.S. attorneys.
Several U.S. attorneys who have been appointed by Obama have left their offices. But the four dozen attorneys who have stayed in their offices have been asked to resign to provide a smooth transition of appointed U.S. attorneys by President Trump.
Bentley's future
Lee Bentley directs over 115 lawyers that work within the Florida State Government office that prosecute criminals and represent the U.S. in civil cases from Naples to all the way near the state line with Georgia. Bentley was a Republican when Obama appointed him; now the records indicate that he is not affiliated with any major political party according to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections.
It isn't unusual for U.S. attorneys to be asked to resign when a new president takes office. Manhattan prosecutor Preet Bharara refused to quit until President Trump fired him from his position. However, Preet Bharara met with Donald Trump in November who asked to him to continue being a prosecutor.
The resignations are in line with Attorney General Jeff Sessions whose memo came out that murder has gone up and prosecution of violent crimes has come down. These resignations could be a way to get new attorneys in line with Sessions' ideas.
