The White House insisted Monday that it is not "relevant" whether President Donald Trump told fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara he would keep his job during the new administration.
The
ousted federal prosecutor said he was "fired" Saturday after the
Justice Department asked him and 45 other U.S. attorneys to resign.
Months ago, Bharara met with the then-president-elect in Trump Tower,
saying after the meeting that Trump wanted him to stay on.
White
House spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday he was not "privy" to their
conversation and does not know if Trump asked Bharara to stay on the
job. However, he argued it did not matter what Trump told him then, as
attorneys general have often turned over federal prosecutor positions in
new administrations.
"I
don't think it really matters at the end of the day," Spicer told
reporters at this daily briefing. He added that Trump called Bharara
last week to "thank him for his service."
Several officials familiar with the matter told NBC News that Bharara was certain Trump wanted him to stay on.
President
Barack Obama appointed Bharara to the post in 2009. He became known for
aggressive prosecution of Wall Street crime following the financial
crisis.
— CNBC's Marty Steinberg contributed to this report.
0 comments:
Post a Comment