\n<\/p>\n
Donald Trump has given a New York prosecutor a new job title to keep him in power after federal judges rejected his appointment.<\/p>\n
John Sarcone III was supposed to be removed as interim US attorney for New York\u2019s northern district after a judicial panel refused to make his appointment permanent. Instead, the justice department has made him \u201cspecial attorney to the attorney general\u201d with the same powers and no time limit.<\/p>\n
The appointment represents Trump\u2019s curious pattern of working around traditional oversight mechanisms. Unlike his first term, when all 85 US attorney nominees were confirmed by the Senate, his second administration has formally nominated only about a quarter of that number, relying instead on interim appointments that bypass Senate confirmation.<\/p>\n
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond trying to make sense of the appointment said the justice department is using a federal law called 28 US Code Section 515 to justify the move, but he says that\u2019s a stretch. That law allows for \u201cspecial attorneys\u201d to handle specific cases, but this sort of application may not be intended to let someone serve as both acting US attorney and first assistant at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unclear that Congress intended this code section to authorize the latter two named appointments,\u201d said Tobias. \u201cThe historical practice has been to nominate people to be US Attorneys during the appointing president\u2019s term subject to confirmation by the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move keeps Sarcone in place despite a string of problems that have raised questions about his credibility and qualifications. The Albany Times Union revealed that an address he listed as his legal residence in a police affidavit was actually a boarded-up building. When questioned, Sarcone offered shifting explanations about apartment renovations delayed by tariffs on Chinese windows, admitting he had been staying in hotels since his March appointment.<\/p>\n
Federal law requires US attorneys to live within their district, making the residency question legally significant.<\/p>\n
One notable issue came when Sarcone appeared on Fox News claiming an undocumented immigrant had tried to kill him with a knife outside an Albany hotel. But surveillance footage showed the two men never got closer than 20ft, a direct contradiction of Sarcone\u2019s story of being \u201cchased with a knife\u201d by \u201ca maniac\u201d speaking \u201cin a foreign language\u201d.<\/p>\n
Based on Sarcone\u2019s account, prosecutors at first charged Saul Morales-Garcia with attempted murder. After seeing the video, they dropped those charges. The man pleaded guilty to a much lesser charge of menacing.<\/p>\n
When questioned about listing a false address in legal documents, Sarcone dismissed concerns: \u201cHave you been chased with a knife and threatened? Are you saying I lied? Give me a break.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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