Preet Bharara: 'If other people aren’t going to do it, then we’re going to do it'

A powerful federal prosecutor on Wednesday reiterated his pledge to pick up where Gov. Andrew Cuomo's anti-corruption commission left off.

Late in the interview, Rose briefly asked Bharara about his previous criticism of Cuomo for abruptly shutting down the Moreland Commission in March. Cuomo had appointed the panel nine months earlier with a charge of investigating public corruption in New York.

Bharara noted his office has received the documents at the center of the various investigations that were halted when Cuomo disbanded the commission.

“Our interest above all other interests is to make sure that the job is getting done, because we are the people who do our jobs," Bharara told Rose. "So we asked for and received -- we were voluntarily offered -- all the documents that have been collected by the commission so the work could continue, because if other people aren’t going to do it, then we’re going to do it. That’s our main mission.”

The interview came the same day The New York Times published an extensive report on Cuomo's office's involvement in the commission's work, including steps taken by top aide Larry Schwartz to curtail subpoenas headed for entities with ties to Cuomo.

Bharara's office has pursued the Moreland Commission's open investigations -- including a probe of state Sen. George Maziarz's campaign spending -- while asking questions about its shutdown. Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe, a Moreland member, confirmed Wednesday that all of the panel's commissioners had received subpoenas seeking documents about the commission.

We have the documents and we have the resources and we have the wherewithal and we have I think the kind of fearlessness and independence that is required to do difficult public corruption cases.”