• Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. (Michael Appleton, New York Times)
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Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. (Michael Appleton, New York Times)
Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. (Michael Appleton, New York Times)
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This file photo taken on November 15, 2016 shows US Attorney Southern District of New York Preet Bharara speaking at the Wall Street Journal CEO council annual meeting in Washington Preet Bharara, a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Saturday he was fired by President Trump after he refused to resign when asked by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. / AFP PHOTO / YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images less
This file photo taken on November 15, 2016 shows US Attorney Southern District of New York Preet Bharara speaking at the Wall Street Journal CEO council annual meeting in Washington Preet Bharara, a U.S. ... more
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Preet Bharara, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, attends a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing with former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey, not pictured, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, June 8, 2017. Comey in prepared remarks to the committee said U.S. President Donald Trump sought his loyalty and urged him to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg ORG XMIT: 700061967 less
Preet Bharara, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, attends a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing with former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey, not pictured, ... more
Photo: Andrew Harrer
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Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman leaves his apartment building, Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in New York. Schneiderman resigned Monday, just hours after accounts of abuse by four women. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) less
Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman leaves his apartment building, Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in New York. Schneiderman resigned Monday, just hours after accounts of abuse by four women. (AP ... more
Photo: Mary Altaffer
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FILE -- Eric Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York State, at his offices in New York, Dec. 15, 2017. Schneiderman was accused of physically assaulting four women with whom he had relationships, according to an article published May 7, 2018, by The New Yorker. He denied abusing the women, saying in a statement: “In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity." (Sasha Maslov/The New York Times) less
FILE -- Eric Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York State, at his offices in New York, Dec. 15, 2017. Schneiderman was accused of physically assaulting four women with whom he had relationships, ... more
Photo: SASHA MASLOV
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ALBANY — Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is not ruling out running for New York attorney general this year, but said he won't seek to be selected to the post by the state Legislature.

"It does have the look and feel of a backroom deal," Bharara said of the Legislature's selection process, which will be driven by the Democrat-controlled state Assembly. "And that's not something I want to be a part of right now."

Bharara made the comments in an episode of his podcast, "Stay Tuned with Preet," that was released on Thursday — three days after the stunning resignation of Eric Schneiderman following allegations in the New Yorker magazine of abusive behavior towards four women.

Bharara said he was "stunned and dismayed, disgusted" by the allegations against Schneiderman, and glad he had resigned.

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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has arranged a process beginning next week in which candidates seeking appointment to the attorney general post will interview in public. It's unclear when a vote — in a joint session of the Assembly and state Senate — would take place.

"They should not have a dog-and-pony show in the state Legislature," Bharara said of the replacement process. "And they should do the thing that makes the most obvious sense, at least to me, and appoint as interim attorney general Barbara Underwood."

Underwood, the state's solicitor general, was sworn in Tuesday as acting attorney general.

Bharara said that she was eminently qualified and would effectively run the office while a political campaign played out this year to replace Schneiderman, who until this week had been planning to seek a third term in office.

"It's an important job; it's an important time — so we'll see," Bharara said." "I'm busy. I've got this podcast. And I love you guys, and I would miss you."

In late 2016, President-elect Donald J. Trump asked Bharara to stay on board as U.S. Attorney, but then fired him a few months after inauguration.

"It's an important job, attorney general — and it's never been more important," Bharara said, observing that the rule of law was under attack by the Trump administration and that pockets of corruption were still prevalent in New York.

"But frankly, I will tell you, I don't know that I want that job. I've said many, many times (that) politics is not my cup of tea," he said. "It's not. There are a lot of things you've got to do in politics — given the current framework, given the current campaign finance system — and I have always tried to find ways to serve, and serve most of my adult life, in a position where I didn't feel I had to compromise based on politics. And I feel that very strongly."

Bharara said many people had reached out — on social media, plus phone calls, emails and street encounters — and asked him whether he was running for attorney general. He said he was flattered.

As a federal prosecutor, Bharara gained a reputation as a fierce enemy of corrupt politicians. His office cut a swath through the Legislature, climaxing with the back-to-back 2015 arrests of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.