Curtis Sliwa and the Reform Party want Preet Bharara to become Attorney General

May 9, 2018 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Preet Bharara, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is being begged to run for state Attorney General. AP Photo/Richard Drew

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Former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara is the right person to be New York State Attorney General — and he can have a spot on the ballot in November if he just asks for it.

New York State Reform Party Chairman Curtis Sliwa told the Brooklyn Eagle that he’ll give Bharara his party’s nomination if the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District wants to replace Eric Schneiderman, who resigned the attorney general position in disgrace on Monday after four women alleged he had assaulted them.

Bharara, who was fired last year by President Donald Trump and now runs a popular podcast, has not said whether he’d join the pack expected to seek the top legal job in the state, but his silence hasn’t stopped the Reform Party from starting a one-sided conversation.

“I believe that Preet Bharara will clean up the worst political system in the nation,” Sliwa said, confirming his offer of the party line if Bharara wants it — and, presumably, if he fails to secure either the Democratic or Republican nominations in those parties’ primaries this fall.

The Reform Party’s Brooklyn Chairman Bob Capano shared Sliwa’s excitement.

“Once again, Albany is proving itself to be the cesspool of the nation,” Capano told the Brooklyn Eagle. “How many more charges, arrests, indictments do we need for us to be serious about cleaning it up. Preet Bharara being Attorney General would be a good start.”

In his eight years as U.S. Attorney, Bharara was known for taking on political corruption.

He also prosecuted nearly 100 Wall Street business executives for insider trading and other offenses, earning him a nod from the New York Times as “one of the most aggressive and outspoken prosecutors of public corruption on Wall Street.”

Other candidates for the AG job include city Public Advocate Letitia James, City Councilmember Dan Garodnick and Queens state Sen. Mike Gianaris.

U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice and former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner have also expressed interest, while Gov. Cuomo is quietly pushing for either Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul or his counsel, Alphonso David. The GOP frontrunner is Manny Alicandro, according to the New York Post.

But for now, all eyes — especially those in the head of Reform Party officials — are on Bharara.

“We must finally pour disinfectant on the most corrupt state in America” Sliwa told the Eagle. “We need Preet Bharara.”

Bharara, who hosts the popular podcast, “Stay Tuned with Preet,” did not return requests for comment from the Eagle.