New York (PTI): India-born former top federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, fired by the Trump administration after he refused to quit, will join the prestigious New York University’s law school as a distinguished scholar.
The NYU School of Law announced on Tuesday that 48-year-old Bharara will join the school as a “distinguished scholar in residence” on April 1.
Bharara said the opportunity to join the law school will enable him to continue working on issues that he cares about such as criminal and social justice and honest government.
“I am honored to join the NYU School of Law, one of the great educational institutions in America, and I welcome the chance to contribute in such a thoughtful setting,” Bharara said in a statement issued by the law school.
He said he is “thrilled for this opportunity to continue addressing the issues I so deeply care about criminal and social justice, honest government, national security, civil rights, and corporate accountability, to name a few.”
Bharara also took to Twitter to announce his new position. “This is one way I plan to keep working hard on important issues I care about “@nyulaw,” he tweeted.
The former Manhattan attorney is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School. He has been a frequent visitor to NYU Law and was the convocation speaker in 2015.
Bharara’s firing was met with shock and criticism since then President-elect Donald Trump had asked him in November to stay on in his position during a meeting at the Trump Towers.
In a sudden move, the administration this month asked the 46 Attorneys across the US, who had been appointed by former President Barack Obama, to submit their resignations with immediate effect. Bharara had refused to resign and was fired.
In his tenure as the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Bharara oversaw many prosecutions of financial crimes, including numerous insider trading charges.
He won insider trading convictions against India-born Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, as well as against Gupta’s friend and business partner Raj Rajaratnam. Bharara s office had also brought charges against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade leading to tensions in India-US relations.
NYU Law said Bharara comes to institution at the conclusion of his tenure as US attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the longest for anyone holding that position.
“As US attorney, Bharara brought a number of public corruption prosecutions against politicians working at the city and state levels,” notably the speaker of the New York State Assembly Sheldon Silver and State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, the law school said in a statement.
It said the prosecutor’s office during Bharara’s tenure extended its long history of successful national security prosecutions, addressing terrorism, international arms and drug trafficking, and evolving cybersecurity threats.
