Judge disqualifies acting U.S. attorney handling 2 Letitia James investigations

A federal judge in New York disqualified acting U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of New York John Sarcone from handling two investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, ruling that he was not lawfully serving in his position when subpoenas to James' office were issued. 

Sarcone, a former campaign attorney for President Trump, was appointed to serve as the interim U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York, which includes Albany, last year, after President Trump declined to nominate anyone for the post when he took office. When his 120-day term in that role ran out, judges in the district declined to keep him in his role.

But shortly afterwards, Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Sarcone as a special attorney and named him the first assistant U.S. attorney in the northern district to attempt to keep him in as acting U.S. attorney.

Sarcone is the fifth of the administration's picks for U.S. attorney who were serving in a temporary capacity and have been disqualified by a federal judge. 

Sarcone's office had been investigating James for her office's handling of the civil fraud investigation into President Trump and a lawsuit filed by her office against the National Rifle Association and executives there. As part of that investigation, James was subpoenaed in August.

After the subpoenas were issued, James sued to quash them, arguing in court documents that Sarcone was unlawfully appointed. The Justice Department argued that the "special attorney" title given to Sarcone gave him subpoena power. 

In a 24-page opinion issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield ruled that Sarcone "is not lawfully serving as Acting U.S. Attorney" and found that "any of his past or future acts taken in that capacity are void or voidable as they would rest on authority Mr. Sarcone does not lawfully have."

The steps Bondi took to keep Sarcone in his job, Schofield wrote, were not legal.

"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," the judge wrote. 

Schofield also quashed two subpoenas issued to James' office, finding that they "were issued through an official acting without lawful authority," because he remained in his job after the 120-day limit expired, and was never nominated or confirmed by the Senate for the post.

Sarcone, Schofield ruled, "is also disqualified from any further involvement in prosecuting or supervising the criminal investigations that prompted the subpoenas."

The ruling is another win for James, who successfully argued for the criminal case against her in Virginia to be thrown out at least temporarily, because the federal prosecutor there, Lindsey Halligan, was also unlawfully appointed to her position. The Justice Department is appealing that decision.

In September, a federal judge ruled that a top federal prosecutor in Nevada was serving unlawfully, and in August, another judge ruled that Alina Habba, a former personal attorney for Mr. Trump, was serving illegally as U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement that "this Department of Justice will continue to fight and defend the President and the Attorney General's authority to appoint their U.S. Attorneys."