Court says prosecutor who subpoenaed Letitia James was unlawfully appointed

A federal appeals court has ruled that the top federal prosecutor in the Northern District of New York was unlawfully appointed when he subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit stated that John Sarcone, who has been leading the U.S. Attorney's Office in Albany for over a year, was not lawfully serving as the acting U.S. attorney when he secured the subpoenas targeting James.

The court cited the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which requires that only the First Assistant in place when a vacancy arises may become the acting officer. The Trump administration plans to appeal the ruling directly to the Supreme Court, highlighting their repeated attempts to bypass federal law and maintain their choice of prosecutors in office without Senate confirmation.

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