Trump administration asks Preet Bharara and 45 US attorneys to quit
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration moved on Friday to sweep away most of the remaining vestiges of Obama administration prosecutors at the justice department, ordering 46 holdover US attorneys to tender their resignations immediately — including Preet Bharara, the US attorney in Manhattan.
The firings were a surprise — especially for Bharara, who has a reputation for prosecuting public corruption cases. In November, Bharara met with then President-elect Donald J Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan and told reporters afterward that both Trump and Jeff Sessions, who is now the attorney general, had asked him about staying on, which the prosecutor said he expected to do. But on Friday, Bharara was among federal prosecutors who received a call from Dana Boente, the acting deputy attorney general, instructing him to resign, according to a person familiar with the matter. As of Friday evening, though some of the prosecutors had publicly announced their resignations, Bharara had not. A spokesman for Bharara declined to comment.
Sarah Isgur Flores, a justice department spokeswoman, said in an email that all remaining holdover United States attorneys had been asked to resign, leaving their deputy United States attorneys, who are career officials, in place in an acting capacity.
The abrupt order came after two weeks of increasing calls from Trump’s allies outside the government to oust appointees from President Barack Obama’s administration. Trump has been angered by a series of reports based on leaked information from a sprawling bureaucracy, as well as from his own West Wing. Several officials said the firings had been planned before Friday.
The firings were a surprise — especially for Bharara, who has a reputation for prosecuting public corruption cases. In November, Bharara met with then President-elect Donald J Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan and told reporters afterward that both Trump and Jeff Sessions, who is now the attorney general, had asked him about staying on, which the prosecutor said he expected to do. But on Friday, Bharara was among federal prosecutors who received a call from Dana Boente, the acting deputy attorney general, instructing him to resign, according to a person familiar with the matter. As of Friday evening, though some of the prosecutors had publicly announced their resignations, Bharara had not. A spokesman for Bharara declined to comment.
Sarah Isgur Flores, a justice department spokeswoman, said in an email that all remaining holdover United States attorneys had been asked to resign, leaving their deputy United States attorneys, who are career officials, in place in an acting capacity.
The abrupt order came after two weeks of increasing calls from Trump’s allies outside the government to oust appointees from President Barack Obama’s administration. Trump has been angered by a series of reports based on leaked information from a sprawling bureaucracy, as well as from his own West Wing. Several officials said the firings had been planned before Friday.
