White House Addresses Trump’s Unorthodox Call to Preet Bharara -br By ERIC LICHTBLAU and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUMMARCH 12, 2017br WASHINGTON — The White House offered an explanation on Sunday for a mysterious phone callbr that President Trump placed to Preet Bharara a day before abruptly dismissing him and 45 other United States attorneys, saying the president was merely trying to extend his good wishes.br Hunt was direct and clear in our conversation that, given written White House contacts policy, my position as a sitting U. S. attorney,br and my office’s jurisdiction, it would be improper for me to speak directly to the sitting president without knowing the subject matter,” Mr. Bharara said in his statement.br After speaking with Mr. Hunt, Mr. Bharara called the White House backbr and said the attorney general’s office had advised him not to speak directly with the president.br “The president reached out to Preet Bharara on Thursday to thank him for his servicebr and to wish him good luck,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokeswoman, said in an email.br Ms. Sanders declined to answer other questions, such as why Mr. Trump had changed his mind on Mr. Bharara, whether the president had made similar calls to other United States attorneys before demanding their resignations,br and why the president did not try to convey his good wishes through an aide or by some other means.