This Article is From Oct 06, 2014

New York City Prosecutor Modest on Attorney General Buzz

New York City Prosecutor Modest on Attorney General Buzz

Preet Bharara addresses a news conference, in New York. (Associated Press)

New York: Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara is not doing much to encourage speculation that he's one of the few people being considered to be the next US attorney general. Yet he's not exactly discouraging it either.

He's considered to be among fewer than 10 top candidates for the job being vacated by Attorney General Eric Holder. If Bharara gets the job it would make him the first Indian-American ever to serve on the cabinet of any US president.

Bharara's profile has grown steadily in his five years as head of one of the nation's most high-profile federal prosecutor's offices. He made the cover of Time magazine for his aggressive pursuit of Wall Street fraudsters. He's overseen the biggest civilian terrorism cases. And he stood up to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his dismantling of an anti-corruption commission.

At recent public appearance, he made light of the speculation, saying that his mother was trying to drum up interest on his behalf.

"So here's the problem: When you have a very proud Indian mother and a vacancy seems to be coming open, she will call all the newspapers and say please put me on the list," said Bharara, who was born in Ferozepur, India. "So I've told my mom to stop calling."


Still, Bharara sounded interested in the job, signaling that if he was in charge, the Justice Department would keep its current course.

"The focus on national security, the focus on cyber-crime, the focus on civil rights - I think all those things are incredibly important," he said.

Having already cleared confirmation hearings for his current job, the 45-year-old Bharara is thought to be looked on favourably from both parties in Congress.

Among those rumoured to be among the top candidates for Attorney General are Solicitor General Don Verrilli, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Before he became US attorney, Bharara was US Senator Charles Schumer's chief counsel, helping to lead the investigation into the firings of nine US attorneys under President George W. Bush.

Bharara was raised from age 2 in Eatontown along the New Jersey shore. He graduated from Harvard in 1990, and got his law degree from Columbia Law School in 1993. He is married with two sons and a daughter.

Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, said the US Attorney's office in Manhattan is considered to be the best federal prosecutor's office in the country, with unrivaled expertise in white collar and terrorism prosecutions.

"It means you're the best of the best," he said of those who work there. "A lot of cutting edge cases come out of there."

As a result, he said, people from the office are often high on the list of smart candidates for government leadership posts.
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