Donald Trump’s Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who formerly had been a personal attorney for Trump, in an internet post on the night of Feb. 11 fired the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York who had been put into the post by a panel of judges.
Donald T. Kinsella was appointed to the position earlier in the day and sworn in by the panel of judges. They acted after a federal judge ruled that John Sarcone, who Trump had named as acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District, was serving in the post unlawfully because the 120-day time limit for him to serve as an “acting” office holder had expired.
The administration tried to get around the law by giving Sarcone the title of “first assistant U.S. attorney” and then “special attorney” and have him do the work of the U.S. attorney while keeping that title unfilled.
Under law, someone can hold an “acting” position only for a limited length of time. When the time limit is reached, a panel of judges has the power to extend the term or appoint a replacement.
Trump has been appointing numerous people to serve with “acting” job titles, which avoids having to go through the Senate confirmation process. This allows him to install people who may not pass muster during the Senate confirmation process but are loyal to him. However, there have been a number people Trump has attempted to keep in their “acting” positions after the time limit to serve had expired.
When the federal judge ruled that Sarcone was in his post unlawfully, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said:
“A federal judge has confirmed what was obvious from the start: John Sarcone — with no prosecutorial experience — was not just unqualified, he was unlawfully serving as U.S. Attorney. The Trump administration tried to cut corners, ignore the law, and bypass the Senate — and the court shut it down.
“The people of the Northern District of New York deserve a qualified, independent prosecutor, not a political loyalist. Today’s ruling is a clear rebuke of Donald Trump’s disregard for the rule of law.”
As of Feb. 11, the Justice Department still listed Sarcone as “first assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York.” It described him as “the chief federal law enforcement officer responsible for all federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving the United States in the Northern District of New York, an area covering 32 counties.”
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said, “This is the latest example of the chaos of the Trump administration failing Americans and making New Yorkers less safe. Instead of focusing on public safety and appointing qualified leaders to uphold the rule of law, the Trump administration continues to advance unqualified political loyalists while firing those who are qualified and competent. Upstate New Yorkers are not political pawns, and they deserve a justice system defined by integrity, not this juvenile nonsense.”
