Trump Tried Calling U.S. Attorney Bharara Two Days Before Firing Him
Donald Trump attempted to call former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara two days before he fired him, a new report by Reuters notes. However, according to the report, Bharara declined to take the call.
Reuters also reports that after Trump called, U.S. Attorney Bharara reached out to the Justice Department to ask permission to speak to Donald Trump. Bharara’s request was denied by the Justice Department.
Bharara called back the woman trying to facilitate the call between him and the President saying that he would not take the call without the approval of the Department of Justice.
Two days later, Bharara and 45 other U.S. Attorneys were asked to resign. Bharara said that he already accepted Donald Trump’s previous request for him to stay on as U.S. Attorney and that he would not resign.
Trump quickly fired Bharara.
Reuters also reported that three watchdog groups asked Bharara to investigate whether the Trump Organization could or may be receiving benefits from foreign governments.
“You don’t decide to keep 46 folks on, then suddenly demand their immediate exit, without some precipitating cause or causes,” Norm Eisen head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington told Reuters.
