Indian-American federal prosecutor Bharara sacked
A day after being asked to quit by US President Donald Trump's administration, Preet Bharara, a high-profile Indian-American federal prosecutor was sacked on Saturday, a media report said.
Preet Bharara, a high-profile Indian-American federal prosecutor who had an Indian diplomat arrested, has been asked to quit by US President Donald Trump's administration in a sweeping ouster of hold-overs from the previous administration.
Bharara and 45 other federal prosecutors, who were appointed by former President Barack Obama, were told on Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to submit their resignations.
Bharara, the Manhattan federal prosecutor who was asked by President Trump to remain in his post shortly after the election, was fired after he refused an order to submit his resignation, The New York Times reported.
"I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honour of my professional life," Bharara tweeted.
Bharara and 45 other federal prosecutors, who were appointed by former President Barack Obama, were told on Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to submit their resignations.
Before the firing, one of New York's top elected Republicans voiced support for Bharara.
"Good for Preet, he is doing the job he was appointed to do!" Assemblyman Brian M. Kolb, the State Assembly minority leader, wrote on Twitter.
Nicknamed the "Sheriff of Wall Street", Bharara's jurisdiction covered New York's financial district putting him in the limelight as he prosecuted more than 100 finance executives for criminal activities like stock trading irregularities using insider information.
They included several Indians like Rajat Gupta, the former head of the consulting company McKinsey and a Goldman Sachs director, who served two years in jail for colluding with the Sri Lankan-American hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam in a stock market scam using insider information.
Bharara, whose full name is Preetinder Singh Bharara, was born in Firozpur, Punjab, in 1968 and immigrated to the US as a child.
He sparked a diplomatic stand-off between India and the US in 2013 when he had Devyani Khobragade, a Dalit Indian diplomat, arrested over allegations that she had made a false statement in the visa application for her maid.
Other diplomats accused of similar offences were not similarly treated by Bharara and the humiliating action against Khobragade, the Deputy Consul General in New York, evoked protests in India and retaliatory action by the government against US diplomats.
India's strong action in support of a Dalit foreign service officer surprised the US government and media establishments, and the then-Secretary of State John Kerry expressed regret for the incident.
The matter was taken out of Bharara's hands and diplomatically resolved, and she was allowed to leave the US without prosecution.
Even though Bharara could be reappointed, his inclusion in the list of all the other Obama appointees came as a surprise because after a meeting with Trump in November he told reporters that he had been asked to stay on as the federal prosecutor or US district attorney.
A day after being asked to quit by US President Donald Trump's administration, Preet Bharara, a high-profile Indian-American federal prosecutor was sacked on Saturday, a media report said.
Preet Bharara, a high-profile Indian-American federal prosecutor who had an Indian diplomat arrested, has...
A day after being asked to quit by US President Donald Trump's administration, Preet Bharara, a high-profile Indian-American federal prosecutor was sacked on Saturday, a media report said.
Preet Bharara, a high-profile Indian-American federal prosecutor who had an Indian diplomat arrested, has been asked to quit by US President Donald Trump's administration in a sweeping ouster of hold-overs from the previous administration.
Bharara and 45 other federal prosecutors, who were appointed by former President Barack Obama, were told on Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to submit their resignations.
Bharara, the Manhattan federal prosecutor who was asked by President Trump to remain in his post shortly after the election, was fired after he refused an order to submit his resignation, The New York Times reported.
"I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honour of my professional life," Bharara tweeted.
Bharara and 45 other federal prosecutors, who were appointed by former President Barack Obama, were told on Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to submit their resignations.
Before the firing, one of New York's top elected Republicans voiced support for Bharara.
"Good for Preet, he is doing the job he was appointed to do!" Assemblyman Brian M. Kolb, the State Assembly minority leader, wrote on Twitter.
Nicknamed the "Sheriff of Wall Street", Bharara's jurisdiction covered New York's financial district putting him in the limelight as he prosecuted more than 100 finance executives for criminal activities like stock trading irregularities using insider information.
They included several Indians like Rajat Gupta, the former head of the consulting company McKinsey and a Goldman Sachs director, who served two years in jail for colluding with the Sri Lankan-American hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam in a stock market scam using insider information.
Bharara, whose full name is Preetinder Singh Bharara, was born in Firozpur, Punjab, in 1968 and immigrated to the US as a child.
He sparked a diplomatic stand-off between India and the US in 2013 when he had Devyani Khobragade, a Dalit Indian diplomat, arrested over allegations that she had made a false statement in the visa application for her maid.
Other diplomats accused of similar offences were not similarly treated by Bharara and the humiliating action against Khobragade, the Deputy Consul General in New York, evoked protests in India and retaliatory action by the government against US diplomats.
India's strong action in support of a Dalit foreign service officer surprised the US government and media establishments, and the then-Secretary of State John Kerry expressed regret for the incident.
The matter was taken out of Bharara's hands and diplomatically resolved, and she was allowed to leave the US without prosecution.
Even though Bharara could be reappointed, his inclusion in the list of all the other Obama appointees came as a surprise because after a meeting with Trump in November he told reporters that he had been asked to stay on as the federal prosecutor or US district attorney.
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