Preet Bharara, the Indian American former U.S. Attorney fired earlier this year by President Donald Trump, has signed a book deal. Preet Bharara, whom President Donald Trump fired in March, has landed a book deal to write about “justice for all Americans,” publisher Alfred E. Knopf announced last week.
The book will be “about the search for justice—not just in criminal cases but in life and society in general,” Knopf said in a statement, according to the New York Daily News.
Trump fired Bharara back in March after the Justice Department official refused to resign from his role as U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York—a role he held for seven and a half years.
Bharara has gone on to be a prolific critic of the Trump administration, making appearances on television and tweeting regularly about the White House’s actions. “The law is merely an instrument, and without the involvement of human hands, it is as lifeless and uninspiring as a violin kept in its case,” Bharara said in a statement about the book. “People will regard a result as just if they regard the process leading to it as fair and if they believe the people
responsible for it are fair-minded. That is the process I want to illuminate in this book.”
The book is slated to be released in early 2019, according to Knopf. It will include details of some of Bharara’s cases during his tenure as U.S. attorney. “Preet Bharara’s life experience, coupled with his standing as a U.S. attorney and the cases he tried as prosecutor, makes him uniquely qualified to write this book,” said Sonny Mehta, Knopf chairman and editor in chief. “His will be an essential primer on justice for all Americans.” The financial details of the book deal will remain secret, according to Knopf Executive Vice President Paul Bogaards. The agreement is “for one book only,” he said.
Bharara was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for seven and a half years. His prominent cases included the conviction of Sheldon Silver, former speaker of the New York State Assembly. Bharara was fired abruptly by Trump in March and has since said the president tried to cultivate a relationship with him, potentially compromising his independence. He has called the conversations “weird and peculiar.”
Bharara expects to “address the circumstances that led to his firing,” Knopf spokesman Paul Bogaards said June 22. Bharara said in a statement issued through Knopf that his book, not yet titled, was about law, but also “integrity” and “moral reasoning.”
“The law is merely an instrument, and without the involvement of human hands, it is as lifeless and uninspiring as a violin kept in its case,” Bharara said. “People will regard a result as just if they regard the process leading to it as fair and if they believe the people responsible for it are fair-minded. That is the process I want to illuminate in this book.”
