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Preet Bharara Says Westchester Native Comey Had Courage To Say No To Trump

In an opinion piece for the Washington Post, Press Bharara, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York turned scholar in residence at New York University Law School, praised recently ousted DBI Director and Hudson Valley native James Comey and laid out plans for President Donald Trump's administration to "restore faith in the rule of law." 

Preet Bharara has words of praise for former FBI Director James Comey and advise for President Donald Trump's administration.

Preet Bharara has words of praise for former FBI Director James Comey and advise for President Donald Trump's administration.

Photo Credit: NYU School of Law
James Comey

James Comey

Photo Credit: FBI
President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Poughkeepsie last year.

President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Poughkeepsie last year.

Photo Credit: File photo

Poll
What do you think of President Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey?
Final Results Voting Closed

What do you think of President Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey?

  • Completely disagree
    43%
  • Not sure
    4%
  • Completely agree
    33%
  • Agree with decision, but firing was handled poorly
    20%

The Washington Post ran the piece, in which Bharara goes to bat for his “once boss and friend,” saying that he “is proud to know a man who had the courage to say no to a president.”

“In the tumult of this time, the question whose answer we should perhaps fear the most is the one evoked by that showdown: Are there still public servants who are prepared to say no to the president?,” he wrote.

In cleaning house from the Obama era, Bharara was among 46 district attorneys hired during the former administration that were ordered to step down in March. He was replaced by acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim.

In the Washington Post op-ed, Bharara described this past week as "deja vu all over again for me."

Bharara goes on to lay out three things he believes the administration ought to do “to restore faith in the rule of law,” following Comey’s ousting, including a bipartisan investigation into Congress, appointing an “apolitical” new FBI director and additional oversight into the investigation regarding Russia.

“He can still fix it,” Bharara wrote. “History will judge this moment. It’s not too late to get it right, and justice demands it.” 

Comey lived in Yonkers until he was a teenager before his family moved to Allendale, N.J., where he graduated High School. He is the grandson of longtime Yonkers police officer - and former Police Commissioner William Comey and served as a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York before being chosen by then President Barack Obama to head the FBI in 2013 on a 10-year appointment.

Comey also served as a deputy attorney general from December 2003 through August 2005 under President George W. Bush.

Trump, who owns the $19 million Seven Spring estate in Bedford, also owns Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley in Stormville and Trump National Westchester in Briarcliff Manor. The Trump name also adorns Trump Tower At City Center in White Plains, Trump Plaza in New Rochelle, Trump Park Residences in Yorktown and the Donald J. Trump State Park on the Westchester/Putnam border.

You can read Bharara's op-ed here.

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