Whatever dent his reputation took for the reversal of the insider trading cases, Mr. Bharara seemed to make up for it by pursuing public<br />corruption cases against Sheldon Silver, the former Democratic State Assembly speaker, and an investigation of Mayor Bill de Blasio.<br />An appeals court overturned two insider trading cases, forcing him to seek the dismissals of seven similar convictions,<br />and said his office was using a “doctrinal novelty” to prosecute the cases.<br />The New Yorker magazine called him “The Man Who Terrifies Wall Street.” But critics contended<br />that this reputation was, in part, the result of overreaching: As evidence, they pointed to a federal appeals court that overturned two of Mr. Bharara’s most prominent insider trading convictions.<br />“If we’re not bringing a certain kind of case, it’s because the evidence is not there — pure<br />and simple,” Mr. Bharara said in 2014 in a wide-ranging interview with Worth magazine about why he never prosecuted a bank C. E.O.<br />“Insider trading cases are relatively easy to win and don’t address systemic abuses that helped bring down the financial system.”<br />Maybe Mr. Bharara was just being pragmatic, with his deep understanding and appreciation for what would make news.<br />Several years later, another story line emerged: Mr. Bharara had turned into the “Sheriff<br />of Wall Street” by aggressively prosecuting hedge fund managers for insider trading.<br />In the many insider trading cases he brought, which were often heralded with news<br />releases, his goal wasn’t just to win in court, but to scare Wall Street.
