Nothing’s ‘off limits’ in Preet Bharara’s podcast
After Trump fired him from powerful legal post in N.Y., he wants people to ‘Stay Tuned’ for his next move
Ever since President Trump fired him in March, Preet Bharara has returned fire with legal critiques of the president’s actions via Twitter. The former federal prosecutor is turning up the volume, launching a podcast to discuss justice and fairness issues — including, potentially, the investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and the circumstances of his firing.
“I’m not putting anything off limits,” Bharara tells USA TODAY.
Bharara’s ouster as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the nation’s most powerful legal posts, has given him more leeway to speak freely. His new podcast series is titled “Stay Tuned With Preet” — a winking reference to the catchphrase Bharara frequently employed to parry questions from reporters about federal investigations.
Bharara’s first podcast is slated to run Wednesday.
Overseeing prosecutions of mobsters, murderers and corrupt politicians was the best job he ever had, he says. “I lost that job,” he says. “Actually, that’s a euphemism. I was fired — by President Donald Trump himself.”
Bharara says he plans to address his firing in one of the first podcasts, “so people will understand the context from which I’m speaking.”
Bharara has said he agreed to stay on as a federal prosecutor at Trump’s request after a meeting at Trump Tower during the presidential transition. Trump fired Bharara and 45 other U.S. attorney holdovers from the Obama administration in March — after Bharara, citing Justice Department rules, says he declined to re- turn a phone call from the recently inaugurated president.
The 48-year-old attorney says his forthcoming podcast is not planned as a current events series, or even to be specifically about Trump. It’s meant to be a broad examination of new and ongoing justice and fairness issues, such as the role of the media in a democracy, and judicial issues, he says. Joining him will be prosecutors, judges, Department of Justice officials and investigative reporters.
“I’m not doing a weekly podcast to throw bombs. I’m a private citizen. I’m not special counsel Mueller,” Bharara says, referring to former FBI director Robert Mueller, who’s investigating Russia’s suspected campaign of cyberattacks and fake news to influence the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with Trump associates.
“If I were in the White House, the only person I’d be worried about is Mr. Mueller,” Bharara says.
The podcasts could present Bharara with opportunities to discuss Trump and the new administration from his perspective. “I have personal experience with how this president seems to view rule of law and law and order issues, and I have not been especially shy about that on social media,” Bharara says.
Followed by nearly half a million Twitter users, Bharara has been a regular critic of Trump and his administration’s legal positions — and a frequent commentator on the Russia investigation. He’s accused the president and his administration of being “un-American” and “legal undermining of democratic norms.”
Bharara declines to discuss his specific topics or guests for the podcasts. Some of the recent news developments he chooses to illustrate the types of issues that could prompt podcast episodes include the “firing of the chief law enforcement official in the country.”
Trump dismissed James Comey as director of the FBI in May, a move that prompted the Justice Department to shift leadership of the Russia investigation to Mueller. On social media, Bharara has said the firing of his former law enforcement colleague could amount to obstruction of justice.
Other legal themes Bharara says “would be natural to talk about” include “rule of law issues related to appointment of a special counsel.”
Stressing that he would address the Mueller-led Russia in- vestigation only as a private citizen, Bharara nonetheless suggests that his legal observations of some details of the unfolding case would be interesting to average listeners.
For instance, there was a delay before news media organizations learned about the FBI’s predawn search of the home of Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in July, Bharara says. That suggests that investigators directed by Mueller are careful not to make mistakes or court publicity that could open them to criticism, he says.
“That tells me something about the investigation, and that is something I feel comfortable talking about that I think laypeople would appreciate,” Bharara says.
Another controversial episode Bharara suggests he could explore is “unexpected” presidential pardons, such as the one Trump issued in late August for former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt in connection with a long-running racial profiling lawsuit.
Trump pardoned Arpaio without following the standard process, which usually requires seven layers of review and an FBI background check.
The initial series is scheduled for a 10-week run. A second-season run has yet to be determined. Dean Capello, WNYC chief content officer and head of WNYC Studios, predicts listeners will be drawn to the new podcast host he describes as “a big, charismatic personality who has things to say.”
“I have personal experience with how this president seems to view rule of law and law and order issues, and I have not been especially shy about that on social media.”
Preet Bharara