Trump fired me deliberately, says Preet Bharara

India-born former top federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, who was recently fired by President Donald Trump, has termed his firing as "deliberate." He, however, said that he does not "begrudge the decision but wants the "record to be clear."

Bharara was removed from his post of US Attorney for the Southern District of New York last month.

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He was speaking at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York, and talked about why he thought he was fired, mentioning Trump's inclination towards firing people, as was evident in his TV show 'The Apprentice.'

On being asked why he was fired, he replied "Beats the hell out of me."

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He said that he had met the POTUS in the Trump Towers soon after the presidential elections. In the meeting, Trump had "explicitly" asked him to carry on for one more term, asking Bharara to tell everyone that Trump wanted him to continue.

"Then there was this decision to let everyone go, which I don't begrudge anyone but I have been around the block a few times. Part of the reason I said I was not going to resign and be fired was because I want the record to reflect for all time that there was a deliberate decision, not just a bureaucratic sweeping away of what had been there in the past, but a specific decision to change one's mind and deliberately fire me, particularly given what my office's jurisdiction is and where my office is situated.

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"I am not making any accusation about anyone but I have lived long enough to know that you want the record to be clear," the 48-year-old said.

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"I was asked to resign and I refused. I insisted on being fired and so I was. I really understand why that was such a big deal, especially to this White House. I had thought that was what Donald Trump was good at. I had thought that that is in part how he got to be the President."

"You remember the dramatic moment on The Apprentice every week when Donald Trump sat at the conference room table, manned up, looked the contestant directly in the eye and said in that voice 'Would you kindly submit your letter of resignation'," Bharara jokingly mentioned.

"I remember that. So I thought he should be comfortable doing what he knew how to do best," he said.

(Image source Crain's New York Business)