US Attorney Preet Bharara won praise in some circles for locking up, and threatening to lock up, much of the New York Dem establishment. Cuomo and De Blasio are no doubt breathing sighs of relief which condemning President Trump's firing of the combative prosecutor.
While Preet Bharara certainly did a good job of locking up Dems. He did so largely because he was carving out a political career. One that would have taken him in Elliot Spitzer's footsteps. It's also why he, unlike the other dismissed prosecutors, insisted on being fired rather than resigning.
The other side of the coin is that Preet Bharara's tactics were ugly and ruthless. And dubious. It was fun to see Dems tremble. But there's little doubt that he would have been going after anything Trump-related very soon. And firing him would have become far more difficult a year in.
Preet Bharara was a thug. He got results. But the results were as dubious as the man. Many of his cases were questionable. Like the worst Federal prosecutors, he relied heavily on intimidation. And he was building a tower of high profile prosecutions to build a political career.
And some of his cases and agendas backfired rather badly. Including one that caused a diplomatic incident with India.
Preet Bharara's firing means that Cuomo and De Blasio may stay out of jail. But that's probably preferable to the rise of another megalomaniacal Elliot Spitzer.