Preet Bharara was known for his media savvy in Manhattan, and since leaving office in March he has amassed nearly 440,000 Twitter followers. | Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Preet Bharara joins CNN as senior legal analyst

Preet Bharara, whom President Donald Trump fired as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is joining CNN as a senior legal analyst, POLITICO has learned.

Bharara was known for his media savvy on the job in Manhattan, and since leaving office in March he has amassed nearly 440,000 Twitter followers . He also recently launched a podcast, “Stay Tuned With Preet.” On Wednesday’s episode, Bharara recalled how Trump initially requested he stay on as U.S. attorney shortly after the presidential election, and he also described his growing unease as the president-elect — and later president — broke with protocol by calling him directly on the phone.


“Had I not been fired, and had Donald Trump continued to cultivate a direct personal relationship with me, it’s my strong belief at some point, given the history, the president of the United States would’ve asked me to do something inappropriate,” Bharara said on the podcast. “And I would’ve resigned then. I don’t know for a fact, but that’s my strong belief.”

In addition to Bharara, CNN has also named Walter Shaub, former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, as a contributor. Upon resigning in July, Shaub said the U.S. government was now “pretty close to a laughingstock” when it came to ethics, a slide that could have global implications.

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“It’s hard for the United States to pursue international anti-corruption and ethics initiatives when we’re not even keeping our own side of the street clean,” he told The New York Times . “It affects our credibility.”

CNN will probably mine the expertise of both Bharara and Shaub to comment on major investigations involving and ethical concerns about the Trump administration.

