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A federal judge ruled Thursday that the top federal prosecutor in the Northern District of New York is serving unlawfully, marking the fifth time courts have rejected the Justice Department’s effort to keep an acting U.S. attorney in place without Senate confirmation under President Donald Trump’s administration.
U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield found that Acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III was improperly installed after the expiration of a 120-day statutory limit and that the Justice Department used impermissible procedural maneuvers to keep him in office.
“The Department of Justice did not follow those procedures,” Schofield wrote. “Instead, on the same day that the judges declined to extend Mr. Sarcone’s appointment, the Department took coordinated steps — through personnel moves and shifting titles — to install Mr. Sarcone as Acting U.S. Attorney. Federal law does not permit such a workaround.”
Subpoenas targeting Trump adversaries
Schofield’s ruling came in a case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office seeking to quash grand jury subpoenas issued by Sarcone. The subpoenas sought information related to two civil fraud cases James brought against Trump and the National Rifle Association.
Sarcone “personally directed the issuance of both subpoenas,” Schofield wrote, noting that he was the only official named on them and that the documents were returnable directly to him.
The judge said the subpoenas were particularly troubling because Sarcone invoked his disputed authority to target a state law enforcement office that Trump has publicly described as a political adversary.
“Grand juries are ‘not meant to be the private tool of a prosecutor,’ much less one not lawfully appointed,” Schofield wrote.
“When the Executive branch of government skirts restraints put in place by Congress and then uses that power to subject political adversaries to criminal investigations, it acts without lawful authority,” she added, concluding that the subpoenas were invalid and that Sarcone is disqualified from the investigation.
A spokesperson for James called the ruling “an important win for the rule of law,” adding that her office would continue to defend its work “from this administration’s political attacks.”
Pattern of rejected appointments
Schofield noted that courts in New Jersey, Nevada and California have ruled since August that acting U.S. attorneys in those districts lacked lawful authority. Another federal judge reached the same conclusion regarding Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Halligan, a former Trump personal attorney, brought criminal charges against James and former FBI Director James Comey. Those cases were dismissed after a judge found her appointment unconstitutional. The Justice Department is appealing those rulings, along with the others invalidating acting U.S. attorneys installed under similar circumstances.
Sarcone’s ruling further deepens scrutiny of the Trump administration’s approach to filling powerful federal prosecutorial roles without Senate confirmation — particularly where those prosecutors have pursued investigations involving the president’s political opponents.
