Dems ask if Trump’s trying to protect himself
she said.
“Everyone’s in a holding pattern,” Greer said.
Still, Kenneth Sherrill, professor emeritus of political science at Hunter College, said a Republican-appointed U.S. attorney in the Southern District could work to de Blasio’s advantage.
He said it hands the mayor the defense of saying, “Of course Trump’s going after me.”
A de Blasio spokesman declined to comment on Bharara’s firing.
Democrats in Washington, meanwhile, raised questions about whether Bharara’s termination was the result of investigations into Trump’s administration and businesses. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said on ABC’s “This Week” that “an air of distrust” swirled around the firing.
Bharara had said in November he’d accepted Trump’s offer to stay in his post.
“Certainly there’s a lot of questions coming up as to whether . . . President Trump is concerned about the jurisdiction of this U.S. attorney and whether that might affect his future,” Cummings said. “You look at everything surrounding the investigations — there are a lot of questions that need to be asked.”
The Washington Post reported last week that three watchdog groups had sent a letter to Bharara asking him to investigate whether Trump had received money or other benefits from foreign governments through his businesses, violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution.
Days Bharara was out. later, “The President has created this situation for himself. But yeah, sure, no doubt about it, when they asked about the emoluments clause and possible violations of it and the U.S. attorney’s relationship to that, I think that had perhaps something to do with it,” Cummings said. Bharara also took issue with a New York Times report Sunday that said a White House call to him Thursday — a day before he was fired — was to arrange for the President to thank him and wish him well. Bharara cast doubt on the White House account, according to the report, but he did not offer his own explanation — and the two never had a conversation. A House White aide had called Bharara on behalf of the President, but Bharara declined to call Trump back, the report said.
Bharara apparently thought it was inappropriate to return the call without knowing the subject matter, and called Sessions’ office instead. He was advised not to participate in the call and then informed the White House of the protocol.Sen. Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, declined to address theories that Trump fired Bharara as political revenge.
“You’ll have to draw your own conclusions,” Schumer said.
Before becoming U.S. attorney, Bharara worked for Schumer (D-N.Y.) for five years, serving as his chief counsel.
“That Preet was fired by the President says far more about the President than it does about Preet,” Schumer said.