Prosecutors fired back at the legal team of former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Thursday, urging a judge to reject the defense claim that public comments by Southern District U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara led to Silver's indictment on public corruption charges and prejudiced his chances for a fair trial.

In papers filed with Southern District Judge Valerie Caproni, the prosecutors handling the case against Silver said a defense motion to dismiss the indictment based on Bharara's comments was “a calculated effort to malign the U.S. Attorney,” whose public statements about the arrest of Silver were “squarely within the role and duty of the U.S. Attorney as the chief law enforcement officer in this district, to speak out about the causes of public corruption and potential means of combatting it.”

On Feb. 24, Silver attorneys Steven Molo, a partner in MoloLamken and Joel Cohen, counsel to Stroock Stroock & Lavan, asked Caproni to dismiss the case because of Bharara's “media blitz” surrounding the charges.