One of President Donald Trump's appointed interim U.S. attorneys just failed to win a vote of confidence from federal judges in his respective jurisdiction, according to a Monday report in the New York Times.
Prosecutor John A. Sarcone III may soon be out of a job as the top federal prosecutor for the Northern District of New York, out of Albany, as the district's judges — several of whom were appointed by Republican presidents – declined to make his temporary appointment permanent. The Times' Santul Nerkar wrote that the rejection was a "rare move" for the judges, as district courts are almost always in favor of permanently appointing a president's choice for an interim U.S. attorney.
News of the rejection came shortly after Sarcone falsely claimed that the Northern District of New York recommended him for a permanent appointment, only for the district to issue an official statement late last week that it had taken "no action" on Sarcone. His interim period ended Monday, though Trump still has the option to nominate him for another temporary four-month period.
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Nerkar reported that Sarcone found himself in the midst of controversy after claiming 40 year-old El Salvadoran man Saul Morales-Garcia "threatened [his] life" outside of a hotel last month. Morales-Garcia, who is undocumented, had initially been charged with attempted murder until security camera footage showed him merely yelling at Sarcone while holding an object. He later pleaded guilty to second-degree menacing.
Additionally, Sarcone listed the address of a boarded-up building as his official address when filing an affidavit about his encounter with Morales-Garcia. The Albany Times-Union, which initially broke the news of Sarcone giving that address, was later removed from press distribution lists by Sarcone's office.
University of Richmond law professor Carl W. Tobias told the New York Times that the Northern District of New York's decision to not recommend Sarcone for a permanent appointment "could be a sign of growing discomfort" with the people Trump has chosen to be DOJ prosectors. He also posited that they may have simply found Sarcone to be a particularly egregious appointment.
"There were enough incidents that may have given the judges pause," he said.
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Click here to read Nerkar's full report in the Times.