By Bill Parry
As he left his Manhattan office at St. Andrews Plaza Monday, former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara heard the cheers from colleagues, aides and friends when he said goodbye to his staff and moved on to an uncertain future. As the skirl of bagpipes filled the air, Bharara, fired by the White House Saturday afternoon, told reporters, “I love New York, and this is the best prosecutor’s office you’ve ever seen.”
Bharara built a reputation as a corruption buster taking down such figures as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Here in Queens he went after state Sen. Malcolm Smith, Queens Republican Party Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone, former City Councilman Dan Halloran and former state Sen. and City Councilman Hiram Monserrate.
Since 2009, the Sikh-American systematically tackled and dismantled what he described as “a show-me-the-money culture…that seems to pervade every level of New York government.
In 2013, Bharara vowed “we will continue pursuing and punishing every corrupt official we find,” warning “the public corruption crisis in New York is more that a prosecutor’s problem.”
Most recently, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York had been probing the administrations of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, but last Friday Bharara received word he was among the 46 federal prosecutors, all selected during the Obama administration, who were ordered to tender their resignations by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. After Bharara refused to do, Saturday afternoon he tweeted an ominous message.
“I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life,” he wrote. No explanation was given by the White House.
Bharara had met with president-elect Trump on Nov. 30 after which Bharara claimed he was asked to stay on. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters if Trump had made a commitment to Bharara during the transition, it is irrelevant now.
“I don’t think it matters at the end of the day,” Spicer said. “This is a standard operating procedure for a new administration around this time to ask for the resignation of all U.S. attorneys.”
Former Attorney General Janet Reno famously cleaned house in much the same way on behalf of former President Bill Clinton in 1993, including the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, Jeff Sessions.
Bharara previously served as chief counsel for U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, now the Senate Majority Leader and a political rival of the president’s. Schumer heralded Bharara as an exemplary U.S. attorney.
“His relentless drive to root out public corruption, lock up terrorists, take on Wall Street, and stand up for what is right should serve as a model for all U.S. attorneys across the country,” Schumer said. “He will be sorely missed.”
In a statement, Bharara said the last seven years as the federal prosecutor in Manhattan “will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life, no matter what else I do or how long I live.”
He was replaced as acting U.S. attorney by his deputy and friend, Joon H. Kim, until a replacement is named. The office will continue the probes that began under Bharara.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
