DOJ fires U.S. attorney set to replace Trump nominee

Federal judges in upstate New York appointed a new federal prosecutor Wednesday to replace a Trump nominee found to be serving in the role unlawfully, only for their appointee to be abruptly fired by the Justice Department.

The judges, in the Albany-based Northern District of New York, swore in former prosecutor Donald Kinsella in a private ceremony. He was set to replace John Sarcone, who had been serving on an acting basis, after a federal judge ruled that his appointment was unlawful.

The judges cited a law letting judges temporarily tap someone if the role becomes vacant due to an interim U.S. attorney’s term expiring. Mr. Sarcone shed the title of acting U.S. attorney this week after his 210-day term expired, and he is now listed as the “first assistant U.S. attorney.”

Hours after he was sworn in, Mr. Kinsella told The New York Times that he received an email from a White House official alerting him of his swift removal from the post.

The Trump administration previously suggested that it would retaliate against any prosecutor chosen by district judges.

“Judges don’t pick U.S. Attorneys, @POTUS does. See Article II of our Constitution,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on social media, referring to the section that lays out presidential powers, including the authority to appoint people to federal offices.

“You are fired, Donald Kinsella,” he added.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Charles E. Schumer said President Trump “only cares about one quality in a U.S. attorney: complete political subservience.”

“The people of upstate New York deserve a qualified, independent prosecutor, not another political loyalist,” the New York Democrat said in a statement.

Mr. Sarcone, a former campaign attorney for Mr. Trump, was initially appointed interim U.S. attorney, but the district’s judges declined to extend him.

Attorney General Pam Bondi then made him the first assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District, but Mr. Sarcone was found to be “not lawfully serving as Acting U.S. Attorney” — a ruling that mirrors other rejected appointments in California, Nevada and New Jersey.

He is one of five Trump administration appointees found to be serving unlawfully by federal judges, notably including Alina Habba, formerly the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, and Lindsey Halligan, formerly the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.