5 days ago
In Rare Move, Judges Reject a Trump Pick for U.S. Attorney
Since John A. Sarcone III was appointed to lead the U.S. attorney's office in Albany, he has sparred with the police and with reporters, assailed liberal immigration policies and claimed that an undocumented man had tried to kill him.
Now, his interim tenure is in jeopardy. In a rare move, the judges of the Northern District of New York have declined to appoint Mr. Sarcone to lead the office permanently.
The judges did not offer a rationale for declining to appoint Mr. Sarcone, whom President Trump named in March to serve as interim U.S. attorney for 120 days.
The announcement could mean the end of Mr. Sarcone's fractious tenure in Albany, though Mr. Trump could reappoint him on an interim basis. (Mr. Trump has not formally nominated Mr. Sarcone for Senate confirmation.) Last week, Mr. Sarcone told the television station WNYT that his tenure had been extended by the district's judges. Hours later, the judges issued a statement saying they had not made any such decision.
By Monday, they had decided — but not in his favor. The move came as federal judges, including some appointed by Republicans, have strongly resisted the policies of Mr. Trump's Justice Department, with a sharp focus on how federal prosecutors have handled immigration cases.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office did not respond to a request for comment.
On June 17, Mr. Sarcone called the Albany County sheriff's personal phone number and said he had been attacked outside a hotel by 'a maniac with a knife who was speaking in a foreign language,' Mr. Sarcone recounted in a Fox News interview.
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