IS PREET OUT OF A JOB? (DE BLASIO HOPES SO)
AG asks Bharara and other top feds to quit
Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked all 46 remaining US attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama to resign Friday — but while Brooklyn’s Robert Capers was quick to comply, the future of the city’s other Obama holdover, Manhattan’s Preet Bharara, remained unclear.
The surprise directive blindsided Bharara staffers, insiders told The Post.
In November, Bharara told reporters he had been assured during face-to-face meetings with both Sessions and President Trump that he would be kept on.
“We had a good meeting,” Bharara had told reporters after his meeting with Trump.
“I agreed to stay on. I have already spoken to Sen. Sessions . . . He also asked that I stay on, and so I expect that I will be continuing to work at the Southern District.”
Although US attorneys are political appointees and the request was part of a routine process, not every new administration replaces all US attorneys at once.
The resignation order also left in question the status of Bharara’s months-long probe into Mayor de Blasio’s fund-raising for state Senate elections.
Asked about the potential impact of a Bharara resignation, the Mayor’s Office declined to comment.
Bharara has hardly been a paragon of fealty since he was initially asked to stay on.
In starting his own personal Twitter account last week, Bharara identified himself as “a proud immigrant.”
Meanwhile, Trump insiders lately began questioning why the president would keep Bharara on, given his history of working as chief counsel for Sen. Charles Schumer, who has been a continual thorn in the president’s side.
“Some people were wondering why the president was getting someone from Schumer’s [camp] to stay,” one source with knowledge of the discussions told The Post.
“Once Schumer et al started playing hardball on all the nominations, and stalling and delaying, the dynamics changed.”
But while sources in Bharara’s office described an atmosphere of shock and uncertainty Friday night — with no word on a resignation — Capers resigned immediately.
“It has been my greatest honor to serve my country, New York City and the people of this district for almost 14 years, with the last 17 months serving as United States attorney,” Capers said in a resignation statement.
In demanding the resignations, Sessions’ directive made no exceptions.
“The attorney general has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed US attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition,” a Department of Justice spokeswoman said in a statement.
The Trump administration dropped a political bombshell late Friday as all 46 holdover United States attorneys were ordered to immediately resign — including New York’s political-corruption-busting crusader, Preet Bharara. Big mistake. The resignation order itself isn’t unusual: US attorneys serve at the president’s pleasure and most previous presidents have done the same upon taking office.
What’s stunning is that Bharara was included in the order. After all, both thenPresident-elect Trump and Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions last November specifically asked him to stay on the job, and he agreed.
Yet Friday, when asked if there were any exceptions to the order, a Justice Department spokesman said: “Everyone gone.”
Trump and Sessions were right the first time, and they need to rescind the order for Bharara, the most successful prosecutor yet when it comes to undoing New York’s culture of political corruption.
Indeed, this comes as he’s still investigating the de Blasio administration and other key figures in New York for possible corruption. It’s absolutely the wrong time for him to leave.