U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is out, dismissed by the Trump administration along with 45 other federal prosecutors. On one hand, it's not the least bit unusual for presidents to put their own people into these positions, in fact Bharara was installed in 2009 when President Obama first took office. What is surprising here, is that Trump and Bharara spoke last year and Trump asked him to stay on. What changed? Well, let the conspiracy theories flow.
Some say Trump fired Bharara to get back at Chuck Schumer (Bharara used to work for Schumer). Others say maybe Bharara is looking too closely into Trump's relationship with Russia and other potentially sticky situations.
My guess? Trump has been hurt by repeated news leaks from some of the Obama people who remain in government. I suspect Trump is being told it's just prudent, politically speaking, to get them out and his loyalists in.
What next? Bharara's open investigations into Suny-Poly bid rigging, corruption surrounding the "Buffalo Billion" and Bill de Blasio's fundraising should continue. Bharara could run for office but despite taking down former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, he was low name recognition statewide. And, it might be tough to run for NYC Mayor or governor considering he has aggressively investigated both offices. Neither of New York's U.S. Senators is going anywhere any time soon.
Kelly and I talked with WGY Capitol Correspondent Ken Lovett of the NY Daily News about the "Preet retreat" and Governor Cuomo's possible run for president in 2020. - Chuck