You're fired
begin quote from:
Opinion: Trump just created a formidable enemy
After firing Preet Bharara, President Trump beware
Story highlights
- Paul Callan: The President has undoubtedly decided that he wants his own pick in the job
- Callan: Trump has now created a formidable, charismatic enemy with similar social media skills
Paul Callan is a CNN legal analyst, a former New York City homicide prosecutor and currently is of counsel at the New York law firm of Edelman & Edelman PC, focusing on wrongful conviction and civil rights cases. The opinions in this article belong to the author.
(CNN)There
is nothing unusual about a newly elected president replacing all of the
United States attorneys with his own personal appointments. These
individuals are the nation's most powerful federal prosecutors with the
power to even investigate the president himself.
Bill Clinton, for instance, terminated all 93 sitting US attorneys when he assumed office.
What
is unusual is telling or strongly implying that you are going to extend
the term of a US attorney into the new administration and then
arbitrarily demanding his resignation. That is what Preet Bharara, the
camera-ready and highly charismatic US attorney for the Southern
District of New York, claims that President Trump did to him, and
Bharara is plenty angry about it.
Bharara: Trump had said he wanted me to stay 01:21
The
US attorney for the Southern District of New York occupies one of the
most powerful seats of prosecutorial power in the United States, second
only to that occupied by his nominal boss, the attorney general of the
United States, Jeff Sessions.
Even
presidents and attorney generals tread lightly when dealing with the
powerful Southern District prosecutor given its storied history as an
institution of impeccable integrity. It is staffed by some of the
nation's most talented lawyers who have resigned from lucrative jobs at
prestigious law firms to perform the public service of prosecuting the
rich, powerful and politically connected in the media center of the
United States and the world.
Bharara
constantly generates headlines using a combination of charm and an
ability to abandon legalese, speaking instead in quote-worthy soundbites
to New York's always headline-hungry press.
The
last US attorney who maintained such a high profile in New York was
Rudy Giuliani. He managed to trade in his prosecutorial fame for the
title of mayor of the City of New York and later, after the 9/11
tragedy, to "America's mayor."
Administration asks 46 US attorneys to resign 01:17
Prior
occupants of the office have included Thomas Dewey, the former New York
governor and presidential candidate; former New York District Attorney
Robert Morgenthau and FBI Director James Comey, to name just a few.
Why
the President would tell Bharara that he would like him to stay on and
then pull the rug out from under him at first seems odd. But then we
have to remember what happened to Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani.
Standing on anything but wall to wall carpeting in the Trump
administration is a obviously a dangerous tactic.
Trump
may have become increasingly wary of Bharara's close relationship with
his mentor, US Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. Bharara served as counsel
to the then-Senate minority leader and was rewarded with Schumer's
recommendation to President Obama that Bharara should be appointed to
the coveted Southern District prosecutorial spot.
Bharara
has a reputation as an aggressive prosecutor in political corruption
cases regardless of the political party of the target. Close political
aides to both New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill De
Blasio -- both Democrats -- have recently come under Bharara's
prosecutorial microscope.
The
investigation of possible ties between members of the Trump campaign
team and Russian officials, and the President's claim that he was
wiretapped in Trump Tower on orders of President Obama, will all lead
back to the Southern District of New York.
In
the end, President Trump has undoubtedly decided that he wants his own
pick rather than the choice of Senate adversary Chuck Schumer in place
as the top federal prosecutor in New York.
In
terminating Bharara, though, the President has created a formidable and
charismatic enemy who shares the President's social media skills. Mr.
Bharara has now become the first US attorney for the Southern District
of New York to announce that he had been fired via Twitter. POTUS
beware.
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