Top federal prosecutor Preet Bharara fired after refusing to quit job

U.S. Attorney PRreet Bharara, AKA the Sheriff of Wall Street.

ASAM NEWS

PREET BHARARA was fired after refusing to quit his job as federal prosecutor by the Trump administration. Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked 46 federal prosecutors to submit their resignations. 

The Economic Times reports the Indian/American U.S. Attorney was nicknamed the “Sheriff of Wall Street” for prosecuting more than 100 finance executives for criminal activities, such as insider trading and for prosecuting several New York politicians for corruption. 

Bharara was appointed by former President Barack Obama. He was born in Ferozepur, India, in 1968. His family moved to the United States when he was 2, and he was raised along the New Jersey shore in Monmouth County.

On Friday, many media outlets reported Bharara had been asked to submit his resignation. This came as a surprise to many because Bharara had talked with President Trump about staying on as a federal prosecutor or US district attorney. Senior Democratic Party Senator Chuck Schumer reportedly recommended Trump to keep Bharara.

RELATED: The whitewashing of Preet Bharara

The Hill reports there might be connections to Bharara’s firing and investigations into President Trump. Last week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, asked Bharara to investigate President Trump for foreign business deals, in regards to whether he had gotten benefits from foreign governments.

If Bharara were to find evidence of this, President Trump would be in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits U.S. officials from taking any money, including gifts and payments for services rendered, from foreign states without the consent of the Congress, the Washington Post reports.

The New York Times reports that Bharara’s office is overseeing an investigation into whether Fox News failed to alert shareholders of settlements with female employees who had accused Roger Ailes, Fox New’s former chief, of sexual harassment.

In addition, two of the cases in the past that was Bharara handled increases speculation about Trump's past Russian connections.

Case 1: Under Bharara's leadership in 2010, the Southern District of New York's federal prosecutor's office brought terrorism charges against Victor Bout, a former Soviet air force officer dubbed the "Merchant of Death," who was accused of trafficking arms to dictators and conflict zones in Africa, South America and the Middle East throughout the 1990's and early 2000's, according to Reuters. He was convicted in November 2011. 

Case 2: On April 16, 2013, Mother Jones reminds us that federal agents rounded up 29 suspected members of two global gambling rings with operations allegedly overseen by a supposed Russian mob boss named Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov. The Russian was not nabbed by US law enforcement. Since being indicted in the United States a decade earlier for allegedly rigging an ice skating competition at the 2002 Olympics, he had been living in Russia, beyond the reach of Western authorities. What is interesting is that the high-stakes gambling ring was operating one floor below Trump's apartment in Trump Tower in New York City. Trump later that same year had Tokhtakhounov as one of his VIP guests when the Miss Universe contest was held in Moscow.

Bharara announced that Joon H. Kim, the current deputy U.S. attorney, will serve in his place until a permanent replacement is named. 

In a statement released the day after he was fired, Bharara said that "serving my country as U.S. Attorney here for the past seven years will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life, no matter what else I do or how long I live. One hallmark of justice is absolute independence, and that was my touchstone every day that I served." (Views From the Edge contributed to this report.)

###

The whitewashing of Preet Bharara; what's next for the former U.S. Attorney for NY

Paul Giamatti, left, plays a U.S. attorney based on Preet Bharara in the TV show 'Billions.' Damian Lewi, right, s is his target, billionaire hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod.

IN RESEARCHING the story about Preet Bharara's firing by the Trump Administration, I learned something I hadn't know before: The television  series Billions is loosely based on Bharara, whose integrity and effectiveness earned him the monicker, the Sheriff of Wall Street.

It appears, Billions is another case of whitewashing, where Asian characters are turned into white roles?

The Showtime hit series is loosely based on the real-life investigation by Bharara of hedge fund manager Steve Cohen of SAC Capital, with Paul Giamatti’s character, the hard-charging, whip-smart Charles “Chuck” Rhodes Jr. playing a version of the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

RELATED:

• Asian/Americans decry whitewashing 
• Preet Bharara fired raises more questions

We've seen this happen too often before to not acknowledge the possibility - recent examples include, Aloha, in which Emma Stone plays a hapa Hawaiian, Ghost in the Shell where Scarlett Johansson takes on the role that was originally Japanese; and in 21, based on a true story whose lead characters in real-life, were Asian/Americans but whose characters were turned into white roles for the movie.

FYI: Deadline reports that after the news of Bharara's firing was revealed, Billions creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien tweeted their support for Bharara.

“You’re a great man, Preet. An inspiration. Can’t wait to see what’s next,” Koppelman tweeted, adding, “Tech advisor + cameo?”

Levien retweeted Koppelman suggesting that Bharara should join the writing team.

Bharara is also being urged to run for political office. New York City mayor and New York governor are two posts that his fans are asking him to consider. In the past, Bharara has poohed-poohed the possibility of holding an elected office.