SAC Prosecutor Hits the Media Trail

Since Preet Bharara’s appointment in 2009 as the United States attorney in Manhattan, his office has racked up more than 70 insider-trading convictions. The press-savvy Mr. Bharara is also racking up the media appearances.

Mr. Bharara appeared on “CBS This Morning” on Tuesday to discuss the indictment of SAC Capital Advisors, the hedge fund owned by the the billionaire Steven A. Cohen. Speaking publicly about the case for the first time since his press conference on July 25 announcing the charges, Mr. Bharara talked about why his office indicted SAC and not Mr. Cohen.

“Sometimes it’s the case that individuals can be charged and that’s how you can get accountability,” Mr. Bharara said. “And sometimes, and we’ve charged a number of people at that particular place, and sometimes it’s the case that conduct is so pervasive and there’s so much that shouldn’t be going on that is going on, that the only way that justice can be done is by indicting the entire institution.”

Appearing live in the CBS studio and seated in front of a big screen that read “Wall Street’s Top Cop,” Mr. Bharara was interviewed by the show’s hosts, Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell. Last year, Mr. Bharara sat for an hourlong interview with Mr. Rose on his PBS show. And last month, just a week before bringing the SAC case, Mr. Bharara gave an interview to Jim Cramer at a conference sponsored by CNBC.

Mr. Rose asked Mr. Bharara about whether he had enough evidence to indict Mr. Cohen, who has not been criminally charged but has been accused in a civil action brought by federal securities regulators of failing to supervise his employees.

“As I said when we announced the charges, the investigation is ongoing it is not closed,” he said. Mr. Bharara added, “The case remains open.

Mr. Rose and Ms. O’Donnell pressed Mr. Bharara on the question of why he did not bring a case against Mr. Cohen.
“Wow,” she said. “It must have bothered you that you couldn’t indict him.”

“Nothing bothers me,” Mr. Bharara said, smiling.

“Nothing bothers you?” Ms. O’Donnell asked.

“Very little,” Mr. Bharara said. “Except that I went to the wrong college apparently.”

Mr. Bharara â€" a Harvard graduate and inveterate quipster â€" was referencing an earlier segment about a new ranking of the country’s top party schools.

Ms. O’Donnell continued to push Mr. Bharara on whether it was appropriate to indict a company without charging its owner. “Where’s the body?” she asked.

“There are a lot of bodies,” Mr. Bharara replied. Noting that six former SAC employees had pleaded guilty to insider trading, Mr. Bharara said, “the scope and the pervasiveness of the insider trading that went on at this particular place is unprecedented in the history of hedge funds.”

“When you have that kind of activity,” Mr. Bharara said, “an indictment of the entire institution seems appropriate.”

Responding to a question about the relevance of the the government’s insider trading campaign to the broader public, Mr. Bharara said, “I think people are very tired of there being people who have lots and lots of money, sometimes billions of dollars, who don’t play by the same rules as everyone else.” He added: “The rules are the rules.”

Mr. Bharara has been mentioned as a possible successor to Attorney General Eric Holder should he step down. Would Mr. Bharara want the job, Ms. O’Donnell asked.

“I like the job I have now,” he said. “I have a great job.”