Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara received a four-minute round of applause from approximately 100 staff members outside his Southern District of New York office on Monday evening.

Bharara was seen hugging people and shaking hands with the crowd.

The White House asked Bharara and more than 40 other Obama appointee U.S. attorneys to resign on Friday. However, Bharara's termination prompted some Democratic lawmakers to decry the move as an attempt to avoid the attorney's investigation into Trump's foreign business deals.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., on Sunday suggested Bharara's firing could be related to potential investigations of Trump that the administration wanted to avoid seeing completed.

"When they asked about the Emoluments Clause and possible violations of it and the U.S. attorney's relationship to that, I think that had perhaps something to do with," Cummings told ABC's "This Week."

Cummings added Trump has created the "air of distrust" that has engulfed the White House, and Saturday's firing only complicates matters.

The ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee said Trump would have had the right to fire all of the attorneys, but his keeping some and not others is reason for concern.

"I'm just curious as to why that is and certainly there's a lot of questions coming up as to whether ... Trump is concerned about the jurisdiction of this U.S. attorney and whether that might affect his future," Cummings said.