A federal judge on Thursday disqualified the Trump-appointed US Attorney for the Northern District of New York overseeing investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James.
US District Judge Lorna Schofield, an Obama appointee, disqualified acting US Attorney John Sarcone and quashed two subpoenas issues to Letitia James.
John Sarcone was investigating Letitia James’s lawfare civil suit against President Trump and her lawsuit against the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Letitia James asked the judge to quash two subpoenas arguing that Sarcone was unlawfully appointed and given a “special attorney” status.
The judge lashed out at US Attorney General Pam Bondi for making Sarcone an Acting US Attorney after his 120 day interim role expired.
“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, according to CBS News.
Sarcone is the fifth Trump-appointed US Attorney to be disqualified by a rogue judge.
CBS News reported:
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.
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.”
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