State Attorney General appoints prosecutors investigating public corruption, possibly Trump

New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has appointed two prosecutors tasked to investigate public corruption, potentially including cases tied to President Donald Trump and White House accountability, The New York Daily News reported.

Attorneys Howard Master and Eric Haren were recently hired to the position, according The Daily News. Master will be working on cases involve public corruption, affirmative federal litigation and complex civil litigation, while Haren will be responsible for providing expertise on federal law, federal agencies and internal Congressional workings, per The Daily News, which quoted the attorney general’s office spokesman Eric Soufer.

Master previously worked under former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this month when he refused to comply with Trump’s order demanding resignation from 46 Obama-appointed attorneys.

The duo will focus on their investigation into the Trump administration first, including a probe into an accusation on whether Trump-tied businesses receive payments from foreign governments, according to The Daily News.

Schneiderman is a vocal critic of Trump’s policies, recently condemning Trump’s executive order on scaling back the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Rule and filing lawsuits against his executive orders banning entry from several Muslim majority countries and halting U.S. acceptance on refugees. The countries where Trump has business relationships are not subjected to travel restrictions under the executive orders, according to The Washington Post. U.S. federal courts have suspended both Trump’s initial and revised travel bans.

In addition to working under Bharara, Master also worked for Victor Marrero of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and José A. Cabranes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, according to his University of Pennsylvania faculty page. Master is an adjunct professor of law at the university. He graduated from New York University’s School of Law in 2003.

Haren’s past work includes working on civil rights and constitutional law cases while serving as chief counsel to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), per The Daily News.