Judge disqualifies U.S. attorney in Albany investigating Letitia James

A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump‘s acting U.S. attorney in Albany, New York, is unlawfully serving in his role and tossed subpoenas his office issued as part of an investigation into actions by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield concluded that John A. Sarcone III – a Trump loyalist appointed in March as interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York – had served beyond the 120-day expiration date for that position and that the administration’s efforts to keep him beyond that deadline did not withstand legal scrutiny.

He is the fifth Trump-appointed interim U.S. attorney who has been disqualified from serving in such a role.

This summer, Sarcone’s office served two subpoenas on James’s office signaling it had opened an investigation into some of James’s most high-profile work. The first sought information related to the successful civil fraud case James brought in 2022 against Trump and his real estate empire, accusing them of defrauding lenders with outsize claims of his wealth. The second centered on litigation James pursued against the National Rifle Association, which led to a court-mandated restructuring of the organization.

The subpoenas indicated they were issued as part of criminal investigations and were signed by Sarcone. But by the time they were issued, Schofield concluded, Sarcone had already served beyond the legal 120-day limit for the interim job.

“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,” Schofield wrote. “Subpoenas issued under that authority are invalid.”

The judge quashed both subpoenas Thursday but did not bar federal prosecutors in Albany from reissuing them without Sarcone’s involvement.

James had argued that they constitute a broad federal effort to improperly interfere in state affairs and are part of a continuing effort by Trump to use the Justice Department to harass his perceived foes. Schofield’s decision Thursday, however, turned on a different point: whether Sarcone had the authority to issue those subpoenas in the first place.

“This decision is an important win for the rule of law, and we will continue to defend our office’s successful litigation from this administration’s political attacks,” a spokesperson for James’s office said.

Typically, U.S. attorneys are nominated by the president and must be approved by a Senate vote. As Trump has faced pushback to his nominees on Capitol Hill, his administration has deployed novel tactics to keep his picks in their jobs.

Sarcone was appointed under a federal statute that allows the attorney general to install an interim U.S. attorney for 120 days. If the Senate has not confirmed a president’s nominee by that expiration date, the law empowers the district’s judges to appoint a replacement.

The federal judges in Sarcone’s district declined to reappoint him to the position in July. Justice Department officials responded by naming him “special attorney to the attorney general” as well as the office’s first assistant U.S. attorney, a move the department said “indefinitely” granted him the authority of acting U.S. attorney.

Before Thursday’s ruling, federal judges had rejected similar tactics the Trump administration had used to retain interim U.S. attorneys in New Jersey, Los Angeles and Nevada. In a written opinion, Schofield cited those rulings.

In November, another federal judge dismissed mortgage fraud charges the Justice Department was pursuing against James in the Eastern District of Virginia, finding that the appointment of that district’s interim U.S. attorney, former White House aide Lindsey Halligan, was also illegal.

The Justice Department is appealing that decision. A spokesperson for the department did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday on whether it would also appeal the ruling disqualifying Sarcone.

Jeremy Roebuck and Shayna Jacobs report for The Washington Post.