Brooklyn Boro

Trump purge: Robert Capers, U.S. Attorney for Brooklyn, Queens, S.I., forced out

Preet Bharara also swept out of office

March 10, 2017 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Robert Capers, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York
Share this:

Robert Capers, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, was instructed to resign his position by the Trump administration on Friday.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered the resignations of the 46 remaining U.S. attorneys who were appointed during the Obama administration.

Capers said in a release on Friday, “This afternoon, I was instructed to resign my position as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, effective March 10, 2017.

“It has been my greatest honor to serve my country, New York City and the people of this district for almost 14 years, with the last 17 months serving as United States Attorney,” the release continued.

Capers said that Bridget M. Rohde, chief assistant U.S. Attorney, would take over as acting U.S. attorney.

Southern District U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara was also swept out of office on Friday, despite an earlier agreement with President Donald Trump to let him stay on. On Saturday, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara wrote on his personal Twitter account that he was fired after he refused to turn in his resignation.

Capers was nominated by former President Barack Obama in October 2015, and took the oath of office on January 4, 2016.

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District is responsible for overseeing all federal criminal and civil investigations and cases in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, as well as Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island.

During his time in the Eastern District, Capers oversaw investigations and trials involving crimes including racketeering, international narcotics trafficking, murder and public corruption.

Prior to joining the Office, Capers served as an assistant district attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office under Robert Morgenthau and the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for New York City.

UPDATE: AP reports that Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the House Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, requested Saturday that the committee receive a summary of probes linked to Trump, whether they touch on his administration, transition, campaign and organization, “so that we can understand the full implications of this weekend’s firings.”

He said he suspected Bharara “could be reviewing a range of potential improper activity emanating from Trump Tower and the Trump campaign, as well as entities with financial ties to the president or the Trump organization.”

Subscribe to our newsletters


Leave a Comment


Leave a Comment