In a significant legal triumph, New York Attorney General Letitia James successfully thwarted efforts to enforce grand jury subpoenas initiated by Pam Bondi’s appointed acting U.S. attorney. This development marks another major setback due to disqualification rulings.

Senior U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield, appointed by Barack Obama, delivered this decision without delving into James’ claims that John Sarcone sought political “revenge” on behalf of President Donald Trump. Judge Schofield concluded on Thursday that Sarcone was not legally serving as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York when the subpoenas were issued. You can read the full ruling here.

The judge pointed out that the Department of Justice could potentially re-issue the subpoenas under the guidance of a legitimately authorized federal attorney, excluding Sarcone’s involvement. However, this could prompt James to file another motion to quash.

According to Law&Crime, prior to a pivotal hearing, the Democratic Attorney General highlighted a series of federal court dismissals of Bondi’s temporary U.S. attorneys and special attorneys, including Alina Habba, Sigal Chattah, Bill Essayli, and notably Lindsey Halligan. She argued that Sarcone should face the same outcome.

In an August motion to quash, James contended that Sarcone’s subpoenas, which sought documents related to her civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his business, as well as her legal action against the NRA, were retaliatory moves driven by dissatisfaction over her office’s successful enforcement of New York State laws against Trump and his associates.

Referring to Sarcone as a “self-proclaimed Acting U.S. Attorney,” James said Bondi’s appointment method for Sarcone raised the question of whether the subpoenas were valid at all.

Sarcone, a Trump loyalist who lacked prosecutorial experience and at least once called the Democratic Party “evil,” was appointed by Bondi in late February 2025 and then sworn in as interim U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York.

Like Habba, Sarcone was an interim U.S. attorney whom a federal court ultimately declined to appoint as his 120-day stint reached its expiration date. And yet, Bondi kept them in place by simultaneously naming them a supervising “Special Attorney to the Attorney General” and first assistant U.S. attorneys, normally the second in command to the U.S. attorney but here the number one — the acting U.S. attorney — by default.

James also called attention to the fact that the criminal bank fraud case against her was thrown out due to Bondi’s “invalid” appointment of Halligan on an interim basis.

Schofield took stock of the way the wind has blown against Trump’s DOJ, in multiple jurisdictions and regarding several interim or acting U.S. attorneys, and came to the “same conclusion.”

“A growing body of persuasive authority reinforces this conclusion. Since August 2025, courts in New Jersey, Nevada and California have held that similarly installed Acting U.S. Attorneys lacked lawful authority,” the judge wrote, referring Habba, Chattah, Essayli, and then Halligan. “Most recently, in November 2025, the Third Circuit affirmed the New Jersey decision. The Eastern District of Virginia also reached a comparable result in a slightly different procedural posture.”

“When the Executive branch of government skirts restraints put in place by Congress and then uses that power to subject political adversaries to criminal investigations, it acts without lawful authority,” Schofield added. “Subpoenas issued under that authority are invalid. The subpoenas are quashed, and Mr. Sarcone is disqualified from further participation in the underlying investigations.”

In a parting shot, the judge made clear that Sarcone was disqualified from “any further involvement in prosecuting or supervising the instant investigations, regardless of his title,” consistent with “similar remedies” of other courts and applying the “same principles” to “prevent” him from “continuing to direct the investigations at issue.”