Report: Bharara asked to tender resignation
One of 46 Obama-appointed U.S. Attorneys asked to step down
Published 5:21 pm, Friday, March 10, 2017
The federal Department of Justice asked 46 U.S. Attorneys appointed by former President Barack Obama to step down. It is unclear is any of them will be reappointed in those posts by the new administration.
If the resignation results in Bharara's departure, it would bring an end to an historic run of corruption-busting, capped by the back-to-back 2015 convictions of ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Bharara's office is currently prosecuting Gov. Andrew Cuomo's former top aide Joe Percoco and Alain Kaloyeros, the former leader of SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Todd Howe, a longtime Cuomo confidant, pleaded guilty to multiple felonies last fall and is cooperating with prosecutors.
Bharara's office also pursued former Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, Deputy Majority Leader Tom Libous and many more.
In late November, Bharara visited the President-elect at Trump Tower and told reporters he had been asked to remain on the job.
"The president-elect asked, presumably because he's a New Yorker and he's aware of the great work that our office has done over the past seven years, asked to meet with me to discuss whether or not I would be prepared to stay on as the United States attorney to do the work as we have done it, independently without fear or favor for the last seven years," Bharara told reporters after the meeting. "We had a good meeting. I said that I would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on."
A spokesman for Bharara, 49, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.