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Senator Elizabeth Warren continued her Twitter war against President Donald Trump yesterday. This time, the subject was Preet Bharara, the US attorney of the southern district of Manhattan, who was fired by Trump after the president promised he could keep his job.
I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life.— Preet Bharara (@Preet Bharara) 1489260545.0
Bharara was one of 46 U.S. attorneys from the Obama administration who was asked to resign by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday. Bharara was the only one of the group who publicly refused to resign.
Warren called Trump's motives into question.
.@realDonaldTrump talked a big game about getting corruption out of gov. But he wants a bunch of tame prosecutors who won’t investigate him.— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1489329822.0
Preet Bharara had authority over Trump Tower. @realDonaldTrump called him directly, breaching protocol. 24 hrs later he was asked to resign.— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1489330009.0
The firing followed a call to Bharara from Trump on Thursday. The attorney refused to return the call because of protocols preventing discussion between the president and federal prosecutors. It is unclear if the call may have been to explain Trump's about face.
While resignations and changes in staff at the Justice Department are typical when administrations change, this round was more abrupt than the typical practices. Forty-seven other U.S. attorneys had already been asked to resign and left office.
Adding to the speculation was that the call for resignations came shortly after Fox News personality Sean Hannity went on air to demand that Trump
To read more, continue to page 2."purge these saboteurs." The administration insists that their actions were not in response to this call.
GOP & Dems respect Preet Bharara as a fearless prosecutor who stands up to both parties & Wall Street. I guess that's why Trump fired him.— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1489330110.0
.@realDonaldTrump wants people like AG Sessions – a loyalist who lied to the Senate about meeting with the Russians – in @TheJusticeDept.— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1489330328.0
Bharara recently was contacted by a group of ethics organizations who requested that he investigate whether Trump and his businesses were in violation of the emoluments clause. Representative Elijah Cummings suggested that Bharara's firing happened because “they asked about emoluments clause and possible violations of it."
You can't fire the rule of law, @realDonaldTrump. You can't shut down ongoing investigations by career prosecutors.— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1489330426.0
Bharara also was leading investigations into Fox News and Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. It is unclear what will happen with those investigations. The president is said to be considering Mark A. Mukasey as Bharara's replacement. Mukasey is currently an attorney for former Fox News executive Roger Ailes.