Preet Bharara bids farewell after abrupt firing

Preet Bharara, the former US attorney in Manhattan who is best known for his tough stance on Wall Street corruption, said farewell to his staff on Monday after he was fired by the Trump administration.

Standing before a gaggle of press and staff on his way out of the marble-encrusted federal office building, Mr Bharara said, “I love New York. This is the best prosecutors office you’ve ever seen”, write Adam Samson and Kara Scannell in New York.

Critics have said that Mr Bharara used the abrupt sacking that is not atypical of a new administration to draw attention to himself.

The attorney who has captured headlines for major white-collar prosecutions, including that of billionaire hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam for insider trading, had earlier in the day briefed his staff on the events of the past few days.

He told them that he hoped his children, who were present, would grow up upholding the same values displayed by his office, which he had held since 2009.

The departure capped a whirlwind few days for the Indian immigrant who was sacked on Saturday amid a broader purge of US attorneys that were holdovers of the Obama administration. It is customary for new administrations to replace attorneys that were nominated by their predecessor.

Mr Bharara shook hands as he exited the office on Monday, receiving at least four minutes of applause, he then went back inside and embraced acting successor Joon Kim.