“I do not have any plans to enter politics,” Bharara.
After his unceremonious ousting from the position of US Attorney, Indian American Preet Bharara met the press for the first time and came out heavily at the new administration saying that draining a “swamp” needs more than a “slogan”.
During an hour-long speech that he delivered at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Arts, Bharara said, “There is a swamp, a lot of the system is rigged and lots of your fellow Americans have been forgotten and have been left behind. Those are not alternative facts. That is not fake news.”
“But I would respectfully submit you don’t drain a swamp with a slogan. You don’t drain it by replacing one set of partisans with another. You don’t replace muck with muck. To drain a swamp you need an Army Corps of Engineers, experts schooled in service and serious purpose, not do nothing, say anything neophyte opportunists who know a lot about how to bully and bluster but not so much about truth, justice, and fairness,” he added.
Bharara took over the position of the attorney during the Obama-era and was among the 46 attorneys who Trump instructed to put their resignation letters. Even though such moves are not unheard of when a new administration takes charge, Bharara’s case was an exception. Trump after his election victory had asked Bharara to continue and when the order to demit the office came, he was unsure whether it was applicable to him.
“I wanted it to be on record that there was a deliberate decision to change [his] mind and fire me, particularly given what my office’s jurisdiction is,” he said, speaking at The Cooper Union in New York City on Thursday.
Bharara’s seven years as an attorney has been marked by his fierce moves that at times went after public officials from both the Republican and Democratic parties. During his seven-year tenure, Bharara prosecuted a dozen prominent New York politicians for malfeasance, including some Democrats. He initiated more than 70 insider trading cases. He won major convictions against terrorists, including the son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith.
“I was asked to resign. I refused. I insisted on being fired and so I was,” Bharara said Thursday. “I don’t understand why that was such a big deal. Especially to this White House. I had thought that was what Donald Trump was good at.”
Bharara also faced criticism from different quarters for overreaching as several insider trading cases he filed were dismissed by courts. A major criticism against him is his failure to secure the conviction of big bank CEOs who were responsible for the financial crisis.
On Thursday, Bharara confirmed that he has no plans of entering politics. “I do not have any plans to enter politics just like I have no plans to join the circus,” he said, “and I mean no offense to the circus,” he said.