--- title: Preet Bharara: Trump Should Worry About This, Not Mueller description: In his new book 'Doing Justice,' former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara reflects on his career in an office now investigating President Trump. canonical: https://time.com/5555714/preet-bharara-on-trump-mueller-report/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-21T09:31:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:53.547Z article:section: Politics og:title: Preet Bharara on What Should Worry Donald Trump Even More Than the Mueller Report og:description: The former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York reflects on his career og:url: https://time.com/5555714/preet-bharara-on-trump-mueller-report/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt032e5dd41d712f88/698947047cdbac703ad5f3a7/preet-bharara-on-trump-mueller-report-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: preet-bharara-on-trump-mueller-report og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Preet Bharara on What Should Worry Donald Trump Even More Than the Mueller Report twitter:description: The former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York reflects on his career twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt032e5dd41d712f88/698947047cdbac703ad5f3a7/preet-bharara-on-trump-mueller-report-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Preet Bharara on What Should Worry Donald Trump Even More Than the Mueller Report > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ac4b0bb6-a887-44f9-beec-d1683dc2b0dd&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Says Mueller Investigation Is 'Ridiculous,' But Public Should See the Report [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Says Mueller Investigation Is 'Ridiculous,' But Public Should See the Report](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/31ZYceCh.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2019-03-20. President Donald Trump says it’s “ridiculous” that special counsel Robert Mueller is writing a report to summarize his findings — but says he’s looking forward to seeing what it says._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 21, 2019 9:31 AM UTC  Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 21, 2019 9:31 AM UTC _In his new book_ [Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525521127/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0525521127&linkId=d337caf1f804d31c78a5cbf41600a48b)_, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York reflects on his career in an office now investigating the President._ **Your old office is handling multiple investigations into Donald Trump. Should that worry him more than Robert Mueller?** Yes. Unlike the special counsel’s office, the Southern District does not have any kind of circumscribed mandate. They are not limited to issues related to collusion or obstruction or interference with the election of 2016\. They can look at everything. And that includes bank fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, you name it. **What can the public expect to see when Mueller’s investigation ends?** If the report is devastating to the President and there are people on earth who know, I don’t see how you keep that from the public. If it’s not so damaging, I assume \[Attorney General\] Bill Barr and others would rush to disclose it. The problem will be if it’s a mixed bag. Expectations are set so high. It’s almost going to be impossible to meet them unless there is a series of smoking guns. **Is impeachment a real threat to Trump’s presidency?** There is still some reluctance on the part of Democrats, all the way up to Nancy Pelosi, in pursuing the I word. Impeachment, people tend to forget, is only the making of an allegation. It’s not proving anything. The Senate as currently constituted is not going to end Donald Trump’s presidency. **Did the 2008 financial crisis contribute to the “system is rigged” political movement that helped elect Trump?** A few things that Donald Trump said when he got elected are correct. He said some people have been forgotten. He’s right. He said there’s a swamp. He’s right. He said a lot of the system is rigged. He’s right. My point of disagreement is how you combat those things. **You didn’t bring criminal cases against major executives for crimes that contributed to the financial crisis. Do you regret that?** There was incredible frustration over the tanking of the economy. Everyone had every incentive to hold people accountable criminally. But you can’t just charge people because you’re angry. You can’t bring a case unless you have the law and the facts on your side. And nobody in those circumstances found that to be so. **You teach a class at New York University School of Law. What principles do you try to pass on to the next generation of lawyers?** Good judgment. Part of the point of the class is the same as the book, which is you can have great laws, but if the people who are responsible for enforcing or interpreting them are bad people, they can find a million ways to cause miscarriages of justice. **Now you host a podcast. What is your favorite part about podcasting vs. prosecuting?** They’re very different things. At the end of a prosecution, someone goes to prison. At the end of a podcast, I read an ad for ZipRecruiter. **Was there anyone you were nervous to interview?** Jason Goldfarb, the only person who has come on the podcast that my office prosecuted. He committed insider-trading offenses. It felt strange and unsettling to sit across the table from somebody whose indictment bore my name and went to prison. We can forget, and we shouldn’t, that every defendant is a human being too. **Who is on the top of your wish list to interview?** I’ll give you his first name: Bruce. **Springsteen?** Is there another Bruce? The highlight of my life \[was when\] he gave me a shout-out live at a concert. I almost fell off my chair. To this day, if I’m down, I’ll find the YouTube clip and play it and giggle like a child. ## Transcript I have no idea, no collusion, no collusion, I have no idea when it's gonna be released. It's interesting that a man gets appointed by a deputy, he writes a report. Never figured that one out. Man gets appointed by a deputy, he writes a report. I had the greatest electoral victory, one of them the history of our country , tremendous success, tens of million of voters and now somebody is gonna write a report, who never got a vote. So we will see whats the report says, Lets see if its fair, i have no idea when its gonna be released. I dont mind, i mean frankly, i told the house if you want let them see it. Again I say a deputy because of the fact that the Attorney General didn't have the courage to do it himself, a deputy that's appointed appoints another man to write a report. I just won an election with 63 million votes or so, 63 million. I had 206 to 223 in the electoral college. 306 to 223 and I'm saying to myself wait a minute I just won one of the greatest elections of all time, in the history of this country, and even you will admit that. 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