Federal judge disqualifies US attorney, tosses subpoenas targeting NY AG Letitia James

A federal judge on Thursday disqualified a U.S. attorney in upstate New York and tossed out subpoenas he issued to state Attorney General Letitia James.

In a 24-page ruling, Judge Lorna Schofield, an Obama appointee, ruled that John Sarcone has been unlawfully serving as the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York. 

"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. 

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"The subpoenas are unenforceable due to a threshold defect: Mr. Sarcone was not lawfully serving as Acting U.S. Attorney when the subpoenas were issued," the judge wrote.

James challenged Sarcone’s authority after he issued subpoenas seeking information about lawsuits she filed against President Donald Trump. She claimed he had committed fraud in his business dealings, and separately against the National Rifle Association and some of its former leaders, The Associated Press reported.

James has claimed that the subpoenas were part of a campaign over her investigations into Trump allies. 

"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' office told Fox News Digital. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to James and the Justice Department on the judge's subpoena decision. 

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The DOJ contends that Sarcone was properly appointed and that his subpoenas were valid. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Sarcone an interim U.S. attorney for 120, but "expired, this District’s judges declined to use their statutory authority to extend his tenure," the judge wrote. 

"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 ruling states. 

Federal judges have also disqualified prosecutors in Nevada, the Los Angeles area and Virginia.

Lindsey Halligan's dismissal as Virginia's top federal prosecutor resulted in the tossing of indictments against James and former FBI Director James Comey.

On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered Halligan to explain why she continues to call herself the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia despite another judge in November determining that she was unlawfully appointed to the role.