U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has been fired. The powerful prosecutor announced this afternoon that he was pushed out of office, after refusing to resign as part of a major shake-up in the Justice Department. Bharara rose to prominence after many high-profile convictions. But his exit leaves several open investigations on the table — including one involving Mayor de Blasio.
"Today, I was fired from my position as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York," Bharara said in a statement. "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. I want to thank the amazing people of the Southern District of New York, the greatest public servants in the world, for everything they do each day in pursuit of justice. They will continue to do the great work of the Office under the leadership of Joon H. Kim, the current Deputy U.S. Attorney, who will serve as Acting U.S. Attorney."
It has been one of the biggest guessing games in New York political circles in recent weeks. Will Preet Bharara indict anyone in Mayor Bill de Blasio's circle following nearly a year of investigations into pay to play politics at City Hall? And when will those indictments come?
That's just the latest high-profile matter Bharara had dug into. Fighting political corruption has been a mainstay of his office.
"Politics may be inevitable but corruption need not be," Bharara said last month. "Indeed it must not be."
Bharara had also been investigating Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration and indicted members of Cuomo's inner circle.
"By now, I think people are familiar with our record on public corruption, which record is not yet complete," Bharara said in 2015.
He won convictions against the former speaker of the state Assembly, Sheldon Silver, and the former majority leader of the state Senate, Dean Skelos, taking down the heads of both legislative bodies.
"The problem with corruption in New York is systemic, not merely episodic," Bharara said in 2015.
Political corruption cases may have gotten Bharara the most headlines, but his office racked up other big wins as well. He convicted Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, the failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad and billionaire hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam for insider trading.
Bharara was nominated to be U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 2009 by President Obama. Bharara's former boss, New York Senator Charles Schumer, was advocating he get the job. Bharara was born in India and moved to the U.S. as a young child. His Twitter handle notes that he is a proud immigrant — and Bruce Springsteen fan — indeed the boss once gave him a shoutout on stage.
Now the question is, what's next for Bharara. Some have speculated that he might one day run for political office, and challenge some of the very politicians he's investigated along the way.