Judge disqualifies federal prosecutor in investigation into New York
Attorney General Letitia James
[January 09, 2026]
By MICHAEL HILL
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A judge disqualified a Trump administration federal
prosecutor from overseeing investigations into New York Attorney General
Letitia James, ruling Thursday that he is not lawfully serving as an
acting U.S. attorney.
U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield blocked subpoenas requested by
John Sarcone, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New
York. The judge said the Department of Justice did not follow statutory
procedure after judges declined to extend Sarcone’s tenure last year.
Schofield joined several other judges across the country who have ruled
against top federal prosecutors after maneuvers by the Trump
administration to allow them to serve as U.S. attorneys while bypassing
the usual process of getting confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
“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. Subpoenas
issued under that authority are invalid. The subpoenas are quashed, and
Mr. Sarcone is disqualified from further participation in the underlying
investigations,” the judge said in her decision.
Schofield said Sarcone is not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney
and 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.”
James, a Democrat, challenged Sarcone’s authority after he issued
subpoenas seeking information about lawsuits she filed against
Republican President Donald Trump, claiming he had committed fraud in
his business dealings, and separately against the National Rifle
Association and some of its former leaders.
She claimed the inquiry into her lawsuits is part of a campaign of
baseless investigations and prosecutions of Trump’s perceived enemies.
Justice Department lawyers argued Sarcone was appointed properly and
that the subpoenas were valid.
The department said in a email Thursday it "will continue to fight and
defend the President and the Attorney General’s authority to appoint
their U.S. Attorneys.”
James’ office called Thursday's ruling “an important win for the rule of
law.”
“We will continue to defend our office’s successful litigation from this
administration’s political attacks,” the office's statement said.
Last month, a panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
sitting in Philadelphia sided with a lower-court judge’s ruling
disqualifying Alina Habba from serving as New Jersey’s top federal
prosecutor.
In November, a federal judge dismissed criminal cases against former FBI
Director James Comey and James after concluding that the hastily
installed prosecutor who filed the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was
unlawfully appointed to the position of interim U.S. attorney for the
Eastern District of Virginia.
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John Sarcone, acting U.S. Attorney for Northern New York, leaves
Manhattan federal court, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in New York. (AP
Photo/Michael Sisak, File)
A similar dynamic played out in Nevada, where a federal judge
disqualified the Trump administration’s pick to be U.S. attorney
there. And a federal judge in Los Angeles disqualified the acting
U.S. attorney in Southern California from several cases after
concluding he stayed in the job longer than allowed.
In New York, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Sarcone to
serve as the interim U.S. attorney in March. When his 120-day term
elapsed, judges in the district declined to keep him in the post.
Bondi then appointed Sarcone as a special attorney and designated
him first assistant U.S. attorney for the district, moves that
federal officials say allow him to serve as an acting U.S. attorney.
The judge, who sits in New York City, took issue with the Justice
Department's actions.
“(O)n 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,” she wrote.
Sarcone was part of Trump’s legal team during the 2016 presidential
campaign and worked for the U.S. General Services Administration
during Trump’s first term.
“The people of the Northern District of New York deserve a
qualified, independent prosecutor, not a political loyalist,” Senate
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a prepared statement.
Schofield said the federal government could reissue the subpoenas at
the direction of a lawfully authorized attorney.
Joshua Naftalis, a Manhattan federal prosecutor for 11 years before
entering private practice in 2023, said it's "always a big deal when
judges say that the U.S. attorney doesn’t have the authority.” He
added that subpoenas aren’t typically issued by a single prosecutor
so the ruling might not directly affect other investigations brought
through the prosecutor’s office.
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Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister contributed from New York.
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