Trump's firing of Bharara shows escalating battle

Trump had earlier alleged that the former president had bugged his phones at Trump Tower

President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of a prominent federal prosecutor in Manhattan reflects a bruising battle that’s building between the new administration and US law enforcement agencies.

This week the president turned to overwhelming force.

Shortly after the election, Trump pledged to work with Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, and talked about the good relationship the pair had. He even asked a former Schumer lawyer, Preet Bharara, to remain in his post as US attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most influential — and independent — prosecutor offices and a key enforcer of Wall Street. Bharara was well regarded by Republicans and Democrats alike.

Since then, Trump has blasted Schumer, recently tweeting a 14-year-old picture of the New Yorker eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and mocking the senator for “fake tears” over the White House’s immigration and travel policies. He also called for an investigation of the Obama administration’s Justice Department, alleging that the former president had bugged his phones at Trump Tower.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, during an interview on Thursday on a conservative radio show, said he’d consider whether an outside special counsel was needed to look into the actions of the Justice Department under Obama’s attorneys general, Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder.

Later that same day, Fox News talk show host Sean Hannity suggested Trump purge the key Obama loyalists. He followed up Friday with a commentary: “Deep-state Obama holdovers embedded like barnacles in the federal bureaucracy are hell-bent on destroying President Trump. It’s time for the Trump administration to purge these saboteurs.”

On Friday, Sessions ordered 46 US attorneys to submit letters of resignation and vacate their offices by midnight, though two were later allowed to remain in place. Bharara was among those asked to quit — and he refused.