Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was the guest of honor—or the subject of good-natured ridicule—on Thursday night at the New York City Bar Association's Twelfth Night at the City Bar. At the event, members of the bench and bar performed an original musical comedy lampooning Bharara and his highly-publicized firing from the U.S. Attorney's office after refusing to heed President Donald Trump's call to resign. Bharara has remained an outspoken critic of the Trump administration. The presentation, a production of the City Bar's Entertainment Committee, was directed by committee chair Rita Warner of Warner Partners. It told Bharara's saga through songs like "Preet Wants Independency" a parody of Don McClean's "American Pie" (the refrain: "Bye-bye, sovereign SDNY.") While the brunt of the jokes were aimed at Bharara, who is now with the New York University School of Law, seemingly no one in his orbit was safe from skewering. That included Bruce Springsteen because Bharara is a superfan, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer because Bharara worked as his chief counsel and Trump. The Twelfth Night event, which dates back to 1947, has feted and roasted top political and legal personalities. Recent honorees have included Southern District U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff and Peter Zimroth, senior counsel to Arnold & Porter and a former New York City corporation counsel.


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