The assistant U.S. Attorney who led public-corruption prosecutions under now-fired Preet Bharara is taking on a new gig probing the Trump administration, reports The Wall Street Journal. Howard Master, who helped lead the CityTime payroll and Sheldon Silver cases, will now work for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as senior enforcement counsel, focusing on issues relating to the Trump White House and public corruption in general.
Schneiderman has already started doing battle with the Trump administration, joining other states in challenging the administration’s executive order on travel. Previously, the Attorney General’s office sued Trump on behalf of students who say they were bilked out of millions by Trump University, though the parties reached a settlement after the presidential election, in November.
According to the Journal, Schneiderman’s office is now looking into the possibility that Trump’s businesses put the president in violation of the Emoluments Clause, the constitutional provision that bars an officeholder from accepting gifts, payments, or titles from a foreign state. A watchdog group has brought a lawsuit, and had been urging Bharara’s office — whose district includes Trump Tower — to investigate.
