The Justice Department on Saturday reportedly "fired" U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, who refused to leave after President Donald Trump requested that attorneys from the previous administration resign.
Bharara delivered the news on Saturday, tweeting that he did not resign from the Justice Department but got "fired."
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 (@PreetBharara) March 11, 2017
The Trump administration asked on Friday for U.S. attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama to resign. Bharara reportedly was unsure whether the request applied to him, and told associates that he planned to stay in office, according to Politico.
Politico suggested the confusion came from a meeting between Trump and Bharara, after which Bharara said the president asked him to stay in office. Trump defended his decision to fire Bharara by saying that he was following the example of previous administrations.
Bharara initially refused to resign, according to the New York Times.
The Times reported that Bharara's office was investigating how Fox News handled alerting shareholders of accusations that former Fox News chief Roger Ailes sexually harassed female employees. New York Magazine editor Gabriel Sherman pointed out on Twitter that the attorney for Ailes was on the "shortlist" to replace Bharara.
So Murdoch supports Trump. Trump asks federal prosecutor investigating Murdoch's most valuable asset to resign... (1/2)
— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) March 11, 2017
And shortlist to replace that prosecutor is former lawyer of the disgraced CEO of Murdoch's most valuable asset. That's America in 2017. 2/2
— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) March 11, 2017
Bharara also said in a statement that serving as a U.S. attorney in New York would "forever be the greatest honor" of his professional life.