SOURCE: Daily News.
ALBANY — Down dramatically in the polls, little-known Republican U.S. Senate candidate Wendy Long is using crusading Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara as a hail mary for publicity.
Long on Wednesday ripped three-term Democratic incumbent Chuck Schumer for not telling the Daily News last week whether he thinks the next President should keep Bharara, whose office is currently investigating the Cuomo and de Blasio administrations.
“If elected, I will recommend to President Trump that he keep Preet Bharara on the job; he’s got a lot more work to do,” Long said while crediting Bharara with tackling government corruption.
“New York voters agree on this: There is too much corruption in government, federal, state, and local. I am grateful that Preet Bharara had the courage to take on this fight and that he took out (former Assembly Speaker) Shelly Silver and (ex-Senate Majority Leader) Dean Skelos,” she added.
Bharara once served as legislative counsel to Schumer, who recommended him to President Obama for the U.S. attorney post.
Schumer’s office had no comment. Last week, Schumer, who as New York’s senior senator recommends who the U.S. Attorney should be, praised the job Bharara is doing but said he wants to wait until after the presidential election before taking a position on the matter.
“Obviously, I agree with most New Yorkers, he’s doing a very good job,” Schumer said last week.
Long on Wednesday questioned whether Schumer wouldn’t take a public position on Bharara because he wants to instead reward “one of his wealthy New York City lawyer donors with this political plum or he’s getting worried about Preet Bharara’s rooting out corruption in the New York State legislature and New York City government, and turning his attention to whether Hillary is guilty of public corruption for having used her office as Secretary of State to enrich the Clinton Foundation.”
A Siena College poll released Wednesday found Schumer holds a commanding 63% to 24% lead over Long.
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