Prosecutor Preet Bharara was fired by the attorney general a day after he refused to return a phone call from President Trump, a report alleges.
An assistant to the president of the United States called Bharara’s office Thursday, saying the president wanted to talk, but Bharara refused citing Department of Justice rules, the New York Times reported.
On Friday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions notified all 46 federal prosecutors, who were appointed by President Obama and still active, to leave. Bharara was one of those asked to resign.
When Bharara got the call Thursday, he informed an aide to Sessions that he wouldn’t be able to talk to the president because of the rules. He then called Trump’s assistant to say the same.
It is unknown what Trump wanted to talk to Bharara about.
It seems strange that there would be a rule saying that the President couldn’t have a conversation with a US Attorney – a member of the same executive branch Trump heads. Especially since President Trump has accused Obama of having committed major federal crimes in wiretapping him, and he might have wanted to discuss the potential prosecution of that crime, or make Bharara aware of other intelligence or evidence yet to be released.
This excuse by Bharara for not returning the call sounds like bullshit. Plus notice at first he just ignored the call. Only when he got word he was going to be fired did he call back and try to claim the “rules” excuse was the reason he didn’t call back. It feels like Preet was dodging President Trump. You would have expected him to alert Trump’s team immediately that there was a protocol which would prevent them from talking.
Something has changed since President Trump told Bharara that he could keep his job. The only thing I am aware of that would affect that district is Trump’s allegations of wiretapping. You have to wonder if Bharara had some knowledge of what was going on regarding that. Alternately, it is possible that Bharara, who previously prosecuted Dinesh D’Sousa over minor campaign violations, may have initiated a quiet investigation of President Trump, to sabotage him for the liberal left and elevate his own political star in the process.
Tell others about r/K Theory, because things are going on behind the scenes
[…] Why Was Bharara Fired? […]
The rules are there to protect the investigations. The same way that Obama blew a bunch of military prosecutions because his remarks were interpreted as influencing the tribunals, the POTUS needs to stay away from US Attys to ensure that their prosecutions are purely where the facts lead and not political prosecutions for the White House (just like Trump is alleging with Obama.) The only people in Justice who speak directly with the President are the Attorney General and Deputy Atty General.
As for the call? It was probably just a courtesy to let him know that they were letting everyone go and that he would be swept up in it, despite Trump’s conversations with him before the inauguration. The leaks are too endemic to allow anyone to stay, so everyone has to go, sorry, old chap, we thought we could save some people like you but too bad so sad.
Instead he never returned the call, so as my wife is fond of saying, “chump don’t want the help, chump don’t get the help.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=190iqepL-G4
Beat your feet, Preet.