Preet Bharara Fired: Manhattan US Attorney Out After Refusing To Resign

Preet Bharara, the powerful U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York who refused to submit his resignation to the Department of Justice when asked, setting up a showdown with the Trump administration, has been fired, he announced on his personal Twitter account.

Bharara, along with 45 other U.S. attorneys, had been asked to resign by the Trump administration on Friday. Such a request is normal as power is transferred from one administration to the next.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente started calling the prosecutors to inform them of the president's request. It was unclear at first if Trump wanted Bharara on the list. Shortly after the election, Bharara had met with then President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower. After the meeting, Bharara told reporters that Trump asked him to stay on and he had accepted.

When he got the call on Friday, Bharara asked Boente about whether the request applied to him, but he did not get a definitive answer or a call back, according to a source familiar with the timeline.

The source said Bharara was called again on Saturday and refused to resign when asked. Shortly thereafter, he got a call back informing him he had been fired.

The prosecutor took to his personal Twitter account, which he had just set up a couple of weeks ago, to make the announcement.

Bharara later issued a statement saying that serving as U.S. Attorney would forever be the greatest honor of his professional life. Below is his full statement:

“Today, I was fired from my position as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Serving my country as U.S. Attorney here for the past seven years will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life, no matter what else I do or how long I live. One hallmark of justice is absolute independence, and that was my touchstone every day that I served. I want to thank the amazing people of the Southern District of New York, the greatest public servants in the world, for everything they do each day in pursuit of justice. They will continue to do the great work of the Office under the leadership of Joon H. Kim, the current Deputy U.S. Attorney, who will serve as Acting U.S. Attorney.”

In his eight-year career, the high-profile prosecutor has made a name for himself by taking on politicians and Wall Street. He has won convictions against former Democratic Speaker of the New York State Assembly Sheldon Silver and former Republican State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Bharara has also taken down arms trafficker Viktor Bout, sent the Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad away for life and has secured convictions against white-collar criminals, such as former hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam. He also found himself in the midst of an international incident in 2013 when his office brought a case against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade for visa fraud to bring a domestic worker to the U.S., who was allegedly mistreated by Khobragade.

In recent months, Bharara had focused his attention on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's campaign donors, two aides of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who were indicted last year, and was also reportedly investigating whether Fox News told shareholders about its settlement payments to victims of sexual harassment.

New York politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, voiced their support for Bharara in wake of the news that he might be ousted.

"Good for Preet, he is doing the job he was appointed to do," wrote Brian Kolb, the Republican leader of the New York State Assembly.

New York State Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin wrote that it was definitely not a wise move to ask for Bharara's resignation.

Bharara also has the support New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who is investigating Trump's charitable foundation and has supported legal efforts mounted against the president's executive order on immigration. In a statement, Schneiderman said Bharara served with honor and distinction.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, with whom Bharara is closely associated, issued a statement Friday saying he was troubled to learn that the Trump administration had called for Bharara's resignation. In his statement, Schumer said the president had called him in November to say that he wanted Bharara to stay on. Schumer had indicated a willingness to work with Trump in November but has since taken a more combative approach with the president.

Bharara formerly served as counsel to Schumer, and in 2007 he helped lead the Senate investigation into the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys by the George W. Bush administration. In 2009, he was unanimously approved to be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Born in India, Bharara grew up in suburban New Jersey before going on to earn an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Columbia Law School.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Colin Miner, Simone Wilson and Brendan Krisel contributed reporting

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