Critics fear fallout from U.S. attorney dismissals
Obama nominee fired after refusing to resign; Dems worry probes will be weakened
USA TODAY WASHINGTON The Trump administration says it followed standard operating procedure in seeking the resignations of 46 U.S. attorneys, while critics fear the sudden move will undermine ongoing probes, perhaps one involving the president’s campaign and Russia.
Aides said it is the president’s prerogative to appoint his own people to U.S. attorney jobs, while congressional Democrats said the mass removal calls the Justice Department’s independence into question at a time when some are demanding a special prosecutor to look into possible contacts between Trump associates and Russians during last year’s election.
“As was the case in prior transitions, many of the United States attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice,” department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said. “The attorney general has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition.”
On Saturday, New Yorkbased U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who is involved in public corruption and insider trading cases, refused to resign, forcing Trump to fire him. Bharara met with Trump during the transition and told reporters that the then-president-elect said he wanted him to stay on, but that plan apparently changed.
“I did not resign,” Bharara tweeted Saturday. “Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY (Southern District of New York) will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life.”
Protesting the removal of Bharara and other U.S. attorneys, New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, a Democrat, said Trump’s “abrupt” decision creates questions “about whether the Justice Department’s vital and non-partisan work will continue under Attorney General (Jeff ) Sessions, as it must.”
Democrats said Sessions is truncating the normal process and upending ongoing investigations in the process.
“What’s going on here is the routine transfer of power from one administration to the other.”