A federal judge reprimanded U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for his "media blitz" following the indictment of Sheldon Silver on corruption charges in January, Capital New York reports. The warning came even as the judge rejected Silver's motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that Bharara had made "prejudicial extrajudical statements."

In her decision rejecting Silver's motion to dismiss the case, United States District Court Judge Valerie Caproni wrote, "The U.S. Attorney, while castigating politicians in Albany for playing fast and loose with the ethical rules that govern their conduct, strayed so close to the edge of the rules governing his own conduct that defendant Sheldon Silver has a non-frivolous argument that he fell over the edge to the defendant’s prejudice."

"In particular, the court is troubled by remarks by the U.S. Attorney that appeared to bundle together unproven allegations regarding the defendant with broader commentary on corruption and a lack of transparency in certain aspects of New York State politics."

The day after the former New York state assembly speaker was arrested, Bharara delivered a gleeful speech at the New York Law School criticizing (rightfully) Albany's so-called culture of "three men in a room," of which Silver was allegedly one.

"Why three men?" Bharara asked. "Can there be a woman? Do they always have to be white? How small is the room that they can only fit three men? Is it three men in a closet? Are there cigars? Can they have Cuban cigars now? After a while, doesn’t it get a little gamy in that room?"

"Criminal cases should be tried in the courtroom and not in the press," Caproni wrote.

Photo credit: AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.