Bharara Weighs Independent Bid for New York Attorney General

“When a New York jury convicted ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on bribery charges last week, the biggest winner might have been Preet Bharara, even though he was nowhere near the courtroom.

As the top federal prosecutor in New York, it was Bharara who brought the case against the once powerful Democrat, and the verdict may have cemented his reputation as a crusading corruption fighter. Yet, even before the jury came back, Bharara was already weighing a run for the suddenly vacant spot of New York attorney general -- possibly doing so as an independent, free of ties to Democrats and Republicans, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

“Running as an independent, that would be the first defining message of his campaign,” said William Cunningham, an aide to three former New York governors and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. “Being attorney general is an easy fit for a former U.S. attorney.”

Bharara’s name was floated as possible attorney general almost instantly after Eric Schneiderman quit as New York state’s top cop on May 7, following allegations of abuse by four women. Bharara, 49, served almost eight years as U.S. attorney in New York, where he spearheaded an historic crackdown on insider trading and targeted corruption in state government, before he was summarily fired by President Donald Trump on March 11, 2017.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-05-15/bharara-said-to-weigh-independent-race-for-n-y-attorney-general?__twitter_impression=true