From the Dept. of Realpolitik

Or how things really work

Item:

Spy Swap Forced Prosecutors Into Balancing Act

On June 29, two days after the arrests of ten Russian agents in New York and three other States, Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, called an emergency meeting of his closest aides. Their criminal case, he was aware, was fast becoming a deal being orchestrated b politicians and diplomats.

Mr. Bharara told his aides that he had just learned that serious talks were under way at the highest levels of the American and Russian governments for a spy exchange that would end the criminal prosecution. He knew the idea of a swap had been discussed in the Obama administration as a way to resolve a potentially delicate situation at a time when the United States and Russia were trying to improve relations. But there had been no indication that a deal would come together so quickly.

“Is it appropriate for us to even be considering these sorts of things?” Mr. Bharara said he had asked his lieutenants. “Should we ever acquiesce in a trade?”

The proudly independent Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office and the Justice Department “should never be an extension of or a rubber stamp for the White House,” he said, adding, “I feel that very strongly.”

Uh-huh.

How many people think the exchange wasn't contemplated* before the arrests? Raise your hands . . .

Times story here.

* In fairness, a careful reading of the story doesn't contradict that. But you're definitely supposed to get the impression this is one no-nonsense, in-charge prosecutor here. I'm sure he is - but this case isn't Exhibit A.