US Attorney Preet Bharara Has Been Fired After Refusing to Resign

Earlier today, it was reported that US attorney Preet Bharara made it known that he would not resign after being asked to by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and that he would be calling on President Donald Trump to fire him.

Well, it appears he got his wish.

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

Acting deputy Attorney General Dana Boente just called US Attorney Preet Bharara and told him President Trump was firing him.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 11, 2017

Yesterday, Sessions sent notice to the 46 remaining US attorneys from the Obama administration that he required their resignations by the end of the day. Trump personally called two of the attorneys — Rod Rosenstein and Dana Boente — saying he wouldn’t accept their resignations. Rosenstein is Trump’s nominee to be the new deputy attorney general, and Boente is the current acting deputy attorney general.

Back in late November, Bharara said he was asked personally by Trump to stay on as a United States attorney.

UPDATE — 4:40 PM ET: Bharara has released a statement regarding his firing:

Statement just in from (former) US Attorney @PreetBharara, who has been fired by the Trump administration pic.twitter.com/eYuFqTkV2A

— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 11, 2017

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

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