http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...-job-the-next-day_us_593d450be4b0c5a35ca04e24 Ex-Prosecutor Refused Trump’s Call, Got Fired The Next Day “There has to be some kind of arms-length relationship” between the president and law enforcement, Preet Bharara says. President Donald Trump fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara the day after the prosecutor refused to return a call from him, Bharara said on ABC News’ “This Week” Sunday. Bharara said he viewed direct contact from the president to himself, as a law-enforcement official, to be an inappropriate breach of protocol and reported it to the office of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on March 9. “Twenty-two hours later, I was fired,” Bharara said. Bharara’s account echoes the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey, who told the Senate Intelligence Committee last week that Trump contacted him directly by phone numerous times between the presidential transition and Comey’s own dismissal last month. Comey also testified about one-on-one meetings he had with Trump, some of which he said left him feeling uncomfortable Bharara attended the Comey hearing. “It’s a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general, without warning, between the president and me, or any United States attorney who has been asked to investigate various things,” Bharara said. “In reporting the phone call to the chief of staff to the attorney general, I said it appeared to be that he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship,” Bharara said. Comey similarly told Congress he believed Trump wanted to establish a “patronage” relationship between them. The number of times I would’ve been expected to be called by the president of the United States would be zero. Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara In all, Trump telephoned Bharara three times between December and March, the ex-prosecutor said Sunday. “They were very unusual phone calls. When I’ve been reading the stories about how the president has been contacting Jim Comey over time, it felt a little bit like déjà vu,” he said. “The number of times that President [Barack] Obama called me in seven-and-a-half years was zero. The number of times I would’ve been expected to be called by the president of the United States would be zero, because there has to be some kind of arms-length relationship, given the jurisdiction various people have,” Bharara said. Likewise, Comey testified to just two one-on-one conversations with Obama during the more than three years their terms overlapped. After winning election in November, Trump met with Bharara, who had been U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York since 2009, and asked him to remain in his position when the new administration took office. Bharara agreed, only to be fired on March 10 by Sessions, who had asked for the resignations of other U.S. attorneys across the country who hadn’t already stepped aside in deference to the new administration. It is common for incoming presidential administrations to replace U.S. attorneys, though the abruptness with which Sessions handled the matter sparked criticism. “To this day, I have no idea why I was fired,” said Bharara, who stressed he was not alleging a direct connection between his refusal to speak to Trump by telephone and his subsequent dismissal. Sessions dismissed Bharara after he declined to voluntarily resign. After “This Week” aired, Bharara used his Twitter account to comment on a critical tweet from Mark Corallo, a representative of Trump’s legal team. Bharara tweeted that Sessions’ office backed his concerns about the March 9 call from the president.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/abso...ice-case-bharara/story?id=47958033&yptr=yahoo There's 'absolutely evidence' to begin obstruction of justice case on Trump: Bharara Former New York U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said "there's absolutely evidence to begin a case" for obstruction of justice against President Donald Trump. The former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York was responding to a question from ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview on "This Week" Sunday. Stephanopoulos asked whether as a former prosecutor, Bharara believes there is enough evidence for a case claiming that Trump tried to obstruct the FBI investigation of the president's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. "There is absolutely evidence to begin a case" for obstruction of justice by Trump, Bharara said in his first television interview since being fired by Trump in March. "No one knows right now whether there is a provable case of obstruction," Bharara added. "[But] there's no basis to say there's no obstruction." Bharara was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York until March when he and 45 other U.S. attorneys remaining as holdovers from the Obama administration were told to step down. The action came after Trump had previously asked Bharara to stay on as U.S. attorney, according to Bharara and those close to him. “I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired,” Bharara announced in a tweet on March 11. Bharara, a friend and former colleague of James Comey -- the FBI director fired by Trump in May -- attended the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday when Comey testified about conversations he had with the president about the FBI's overall Russia investigation and its probe into Flynn. Bharara told Stephanopoulos that watching how James Comey's interactions with Trump and how his firing played out "felt a little bit like déjà vu." Bharara said Trump, starting when he was still president-elect, made a series of "unusual phone calls" to him. "In reporting the phone call to the chief of staff to the attorney general I said, it appeared to be that he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship," Bharara said. "It's a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general, without warning between the president and me or any United States attorney who has been asked to investigate various things and is in a position hypothetically to investigate business interests and associates of the president." After Trump took office, Bharara refused to take one of Trump's calls. "The call came in. I got a message. We deliberated over it, thought it was inappropriate to return the call. And 22 hours later I was asked to resign along with 45 other people," Bharara said. "To this day I have no idea why I was fired," Bharara added later.
Wants loyalty pledge from those who might investigate him or his associates,if not they're fired.Unbelievable
when a person wants a job... and decides to not call back the person who will be giving him the job - yet still thinks he is entitled to the job? What kind of upside down world do these liars live in. Lets look at the timing. Didn't Sessions just get appointed. Therefore the US Attorneys knew this was the exact point in time US attorneys get replaced by new administrations. He obviously was concerned they were going to tell him they were letting him go. Perhaps he was actually too cowardly to call back. Either way... at that point in time this should not have been an unexpected call. That is a total bullshit spin job.
Did the thought ever occur to the writer of this article that he was calling him to let him know he was fired? Seems like another silly conspiracy theory.
Trump said he would keep Bharara on.Bharara was one of the most powerful and respected federal prosecutors in the country,a tv show was even inspired by him. Bharara would have been a great asset to Trump if Trump could control him which is why he tried. Bharara stated why he wouldn't take Trump calls,he knew what Trump was up to.
Except he already had the job and was investigating Trump's criminal activities - no other reason to hold a second 'interview' - why didn't the other AG's get such calls. Also, replacing AG's is done AFTER they have found the replacement, most of the AG offices are still unoccupied just like rest of the government. Keep ignoring the corruption because it's your team.
so did the other 40 or so that were fired at the same time. they serve at the pleasure of the president and they frequently get fired when a new president takes over. And he didn't call back right around the time U.S. Attorneys get fired. So he was fired. you know that... why are you arguing so stupidly. do you get paid by the post?