Bharara meets Trump; will stay on as US Attorney in Manhattan

Donald Trump plans to keep President Barack Obama's US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, daily mail reported.

Bharara visited Trump at the president-elect's request on Wednesday afternoon. 

The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York handles federal cases in Manhattan, the Bronx and six counties north of the city.

Born in India, Bharara came to the US in 1970. He grew up in Monmouth County, in New Jersey, and graduated from Harvard in 1990 and Columbia Law School in 1993.

He said afterwards, 'We had a good meeting. I said I would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on.

'I have already spoken to Senator Sessions, who is as you know is the nominee to be the attorney general. He also asked that I stay on, and so I expect that I will be continuing to work at the southern district.'

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions is Trump's nominee for attorney general. Sessions will be Bharara's boss. 

Bharara's pursuit of insider trading cases beginning in 2009 earned him a Time magazine cover and the title of 'top cop' to Wall Street. 

His office twice forced Citibank to pay substantial sums in 2012 and 2014 for pushing risky loans. In 2012 it also pursued, and won, a mortgage-fraud case against Bank of America.

Several of Bernie Madoff's associates we convicted as a result of Bharara's office's work. Madoff's bank, JPMorgan, forfeited $1.7 billion in a separate settlement. 

His reach has extended beyond the big banks to public officials. State senators, New York City council men and women, even State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, have found themselves in his crosshairs. 

Silver was arrested in 2015 and convicted.

Bharara's case against New York's Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos sent the politician to jail for five years.

He warned New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo this spring to stay in line, or he'd come after them, too.

Bharara said Wednesday he believes Trump invited to his office today 'presumably because he's a New Yorker and is aware of the great work that our office has done over the past seven years.'

The president-elect asked for a meeting to 'discuss whether or not I'd be prepared to stay on as the United States attorney to do the work as we have done it, independently, without fear or favor for the last seven years.' 

Bharara formerly served as chief counsel to Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York.