Ordering U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in New York City to step down along with all 46 remaining federal prosecutors remaining from the Obama administration is a "big mistake," The New York Post said in an editorial Saturday morning.
On Friday, the Justice Department announced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked the remaining prosecutors to resign to "ensure a uniform transition," and that is not an unusual step, The Post noted.
Bharara serves as the Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his office handles some of the federal judicial system's most critical cases.
The Post notes that Bharara is the most successful prosecutor New York has had when it comes to investigating and undoing the city's "culture of political corruption." Also, the order comes while the prosecutor continues his investigation of Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration and other key New York figures for corruption.
"It's absolutely the wrong time for him to leave," said the editorial.
"U.S. attorneys serve at the president's pleasure and most previous presidents have done the same upon taking office," the editorial said. However, including Bharara in the order was "stunning."
"Both then-President-elect Trump and Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions last November specifically asked him to stay on the job, and he agreed," writes The Post.
But on Friday, a Justice Department spokesman said there would be no exceptions to the order.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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