A federal appeals court has permanently banned President Donald Trump's chief prosecutor in New York from investigations targeting the attorney general who beat him in court, ruling his appointment "unlawful."
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Friday that John A. Sarcone III, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, was never lawfully in his post.
The ruling bars Sarcone from both cases brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James that Trump has tried to reverse through the Justice Department — the civil fraud case against the Trump Organization and a separate case against the National Rifle Association.
"We further hold that the general delegation to Sarcone of all the duties of the U.S. Attorney's office was an unlawful use of general delegation authority to circumvent the FVRA's exclusivity provision," the ruling said.
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act, or FVRA, sets the rules for who may legally fill a vacant federal prosecutor's seat.
"Because Sarcone lacked authority to obtain the subpoenas on either theory, we AFFIRM the district court's order quashing them," the court added.
"And because the government on appeal did not provide any argument as to why the district court erred in disqualifying Sarcone from future involvement in the underlying investigations," the ruling said, the ban is permanent — the government never argued otherwise on appeal, forfeiting any challenge.
Sarcone's pursuit of James fit squarely within the retribution campaign Trump had promised supporters while running for office.
"I am your warrior, I am your justice, and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution," Trump told supporters at CPAC in 2023.
James had won a civil fraud judgment against Trump, with a court finding in 2023 he inflated his assets by as much as $2.2 billion a year, NPR reported.
The DOJ subpoenaed James's office in August 2025, seeking her files on both the Trump fraud and NRA cases, then indicted her on mortgage fraud charges in October — but a judge threw out that case after finding that the prosecutor was also unlawfully appointed, according to published reports.
"Promises made, Promises kept," Trump's DOJ weaponization chief Ed Martin posted on social media after the indictment.
Circuit Judge Park dissented, arguing the majority "makes up" an incumbency requirement the statute does not contain, and that a third trigger in the law "describes a state that may be continuing and may or may not be permanent."
