A judge ruled a Trump DOJ prosecutor is 'not lawfully serving,' but he's still wielding his title while trying to dismiss Comey's firing lawsuit

As the DOJ tries to halt a ruling that quashed its transgression expansive assemblage subpoenas of New York Attorney General Letitia James' office, acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone is inactive wielding his claimed rubric successful a bid to disregard Maurene Comey's suit implicit her firing, contempt a justice ruling helium is "not lawfully serving."

The girl of ex-FBI Director James Comey, who was fired from her station arsenic adjunct U.S. lawyer for the Southern District of New York successful July by the Trump administration, is presently suing implicit her "illegal termination" successful Manhattan.

The Northern District of New York's Sarcone has been defending the DOJ successful the lawsuit due to the fact that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District recused itself, fixed that the plaintiff erstwhile prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, arsenic she worked determination for nearly a decade. Her begetter was besides erstwhile the U.S. lawyer and a line prosecutor.

On Monday, the DOJ filed a reply memorandum successful U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman's court, successful enactment of tossing retired Comey's suit for deficiency of jurisdiction. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Sarcone's names were connected the filing.

Notably, Sarcone's listed rubric was "Acting United States Attorney."

Whether you spell by the day astatine the bottommost of the filing, Jan. 23, oregon the day it was entered connected the docket, Feb. 2, Sarcone is holding himself retired arsenic the apical authoritative for the Northern District of New York weeks aft a justice ruled that helium was "not lawfully serving."

As Law&Crime has reported, the subpoenas of Letitia James' bureau were issued implicit the summer arsenic portion of the DOJ's transgression probe into her civilian fraud suit against President Donald Trump and his household business, arsenic good arsenic the Democratic AG's lawsuit against the NRA.

On Jan. 8, however, Senior U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield ruled that U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi's assignment of Sarcone was unlawful and the subpoenas were slapped down.

"Mr. Sarcone is not lawfully serving arsenic Acting U.S. Attorney for the NDNY. His assignment violates the FVRA and the statutes governing U.S. Attorney appointments. Several courts, including the Third Circuit, person precocious addressed akin assignment maneuvers and reached the aforesaid conclusion," Schofield wrote, successful part referring to dismissals of the DOJ's transgression cases against James Comey and Letitia James successful the Eastern District of Virginia owed to Lindsey Halligan's unlawful interim appointment.

"Because Mr. Sarcone utilized authorization helium did not lawfully person to nonstop the issuance of the subpoenas, the subpoenas are quashed," Schofield added, disqualifying Sarcone from "further information successful the underlying transgression investigations."

The DOJ responded to the adverse ruling 2 weeks agone by asking Schofield for a enactment pending appeal.

The authorities insisted that Sarcone is lawfully serving by virtuousness of his titles of peculiar lawyer and archetypal adjunct U.S. attorney, and that the subpoenas should beryllium revived. After Law&Crime identified a basal mistake successful the filing, the DOJ sought and received permission to record a caller memo correcting respective typos.

According to the docket, Schofield, a Barack Obama appointee, has not ruled connected the DOJ's question for a enactment arsenic of Tuesday.

It's reminiscent of the concern successful Virginia that prompted a justice to telephone retired Lindsey Halligan for utilizing the U.S. lawyer rubric successful tribunal filings adjacent aft the dismissals of the Comey and James prosecutions.

U.S. District Judge David J. Novak, a Trump appointee, had ordered the government to reply wherefore Halligan identified herself connected an indictment arsenic U.S. lawyer "despite a binding Court Order," which "found that the 'appointment of Ms. Halligan arsenic Interim U.S. Attorney violated 28 U.S.C. § 546 and the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.'"

The DOJ said the justice was moving an "inquisition," but Halligan yet stepped speech connected Jan. 20 arsenic judges successful the EDVA began the process for replacing her.

Novak, for his part, said Halligan was engaged successful a "charade," wherever she was "masquerading" arsenic the U.S. lawyer and "in nonstop defiance of binding tribunal orders[.]"