U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Says He Was Fired By Justice Department After Refusing to Resign
Preet Bharara, the high-profile Manhattan federal prosecutor, said he was fired from his role as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York on Saturday.
The move comes, Bharara said via a tweet on Saturday, after he refused to submit a letter of resignation following Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ order to all 46 U.S. Attorney holdovers from Barack Obama’s administration to step down.
“I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life,” Bharara tweeted.
I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life.
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) March 11, 2017
In November, Bharara met with President Donald Trump following his election. Trump, who was then President-elect, asked Bharara to remain in his role as U.S. Attorney, Bharara told reporters at the time.
“The President-elect asked, presumably because he’s a New Yorker and is aware of the great work that our office has done over the past seven years … whether or not I’d be prepared to stay on” and “I agreed,” Bharara said in November, according to the New York Daily News.