A temporary federal prosecutor appointed by President Donald Trump claimed that federal judges extended his term in office — but the judges in question came out to say they had done no such thing.
According to Syracuse.com, "Interim U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III set off a firestorm Friday when he told a TV station that a panel of federal judges decided he should remain on the job as the top federal prosecutor for Upstate New York. But a panel of nine U.S. District Court judges for the Northern District of New York quickly refuted Sarcone’s claim that they agreed to extend his appointment beyond the 120-day limit for interim appointees."
Issuing an unusual public statement, the judges said, “The board of judges of the Northern District of New York has taken no action with respect to U.S. Attorney Sarcone.”
Following this statement, Tamara Thomson, an assistant U.S. attorney in Sarcone's office, insisted they had received word an order was coming, but that it wasn't in effect yet.
"Thomson said Singh wrote in the message that the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (the Justice Department office that provides administrative support to prosecutors) had received an order from the judges July 2 confirming his extension," said the report. "That order still had not been signed. 'The court advised EOUSA that there (sic) weren’t aware of any problems and that things are moving in the right direction,' Singh wrote in the text, according to Thomson. 'The chief judge is out this week and will be back in on Monday in time to sign.'"
Sarcone previously made national news after he was reportedly chased by a knife-wielding unauthorized migrant.
Trump's interim federal prosecutors have frequently been mired in controversy, including former acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, who sent threatening letters to a number of organizations and individuals Trump's inner circle was unhappy with, and New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, who is attempting to prosecute a congresswoman who entered a privately-run ICE facility.