Firing unlikely to slow Blaz probe

MAYOR DE BLASIO isn’t off the hook just yet.

President Trump’s firing of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on Saturday is unlikely to significantly derail the ongoing investigation into de Blasio’s fund-raising — or the political calculations of those considering running against the mayor in November — experts told the Daily News.

Under normal circumstances, the assistant U.S. attorneys investigating de Blasio would not be affected by a change in leadership, said Bradley Simon, a criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor in Brooklyn’s Eastern District.

“I don’t think they’re going to be affected at all unless there’s some intervention by the Justice Department,” he said. “With respect to this administration, we’re dealing with uncharted territory.”

Simon said the same is true for the case against Gov. Cuomo’s inner circle, which was brought by Bharara.

Trump fired the outspoken prosecutor — and asked for the resignations of 45 other U.S. attorneys — without having nominated their successors. Until a new chief is installed, New York’s Southern District office will be run by Bharara’s deputy, Joon Kim.

Simon noted that a deputy is generally ideologically similar to the U.S. attorney he or she serves, meaning Kim has little motivation to pump the brakes on an investigation into whether de Blasio donors were promised favors. Kim was reportedly present when de Blasio was questioned by federal prosecutors for several hours last month.

“(Trump) didn’t change the situation. He just added replicas of the same people,” Simon said.

Whenever Trump does appoint Bharara’s successor, he or she will have little incentive to go easy on de Blasio, who has been a vocal critic of the President’s policies, said Jeanne Zaino, a political science professor at Iona College.

“Everybody assumed Preet Bharara was the worst thing that could happen to Bill de Blasio, but you could imagine a Republican getting in there and being just as tough, if not tougher,” Zaino said.

Bharara’s sacking is also unlikely to change the political calculations of de Blasio rivals considering a run against him this year, said Christina Greer, a political science professor at Fordham University.

Potential mayoral candidates are still waiting to see if anyone in de Blasio’s administration is indicted,