US Attorney Preet Bharara Refuses Order To Resign, Will Force Attorney General Jeff Sessions To Fire Him

Buzzfeed reports:

Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York who has established a reputation for prosecuting white collar crime and political corruption, is refusing to comply with a request from Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he tender his resignation, multiple outlets reported.

Sessions on Friday asked for the resignations of all 46 remaining presidentially nominated and Senate-confirmed federal prosecutors from the Obama administration, effectively immediately. While new presidents generally replace most of the US attorneys across the nation, the timing — seeking to have the US attorneys leave office immediately and before a successor is nominated, let alone confirmed — does appear to be unusual.

The request is understood to have come at the direction of President Donald Trump, according to two US attorneys. Bharara met with the president at Trump Tower in November, telling reporters that he had been asked by Trump to stay on in his role.

Last week watchdog groups petitioned Bharara to investigate whether Trump has received payments from foreign governments.