Preet Bharara won’t face civil suit, appeals court rules

Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and top aides will not have to face trial on a hedge fund operator’s civil suit claiming prosecutors used a misleading affidavit to get a search warrant in an insider trading probe that eventually killed the fund.

The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2016 decision by Manhattan U.S. District Judge William Pauley that said David Ganek of Level Global Investors should have the chance to gather evidence on a claim that Bharara, his deputies and the FBI violated his constitutional rights.

The appeals courts said that even a corrected affidavit would have provided grounds to search Ganek’s offices, prosecutors and agents were entitled to immunity, and Ganek had no right to have officials clarify that he was not a target of the investigation.

“In the context of ongoing investigations, it is generally thought better for law enforcement officials to make no comments about such matters unless and until they are prepared to file public charges,” wrote Judge Reena Raggi.