A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling blocking the U.S. Department of Justice from subpoenaing records from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office about her investigations.
In a 2-1 ruling Friday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision to bar interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York John Sarcone from investigating James’ office for possible misconduct in civil lawsuits against President Trump and the National Rifle Association.
A federal judge had previously ruled that Sarcone – who served as Trump’s campaign attorney – was ineligible to serve in the role because he hadn’t been confirmed.
“We disagree with the court’s decision, and intend to take this case to the Supreme Court.” the DOJ said in a statement.
In February, U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield ruled that Sarcone was in that role unlawfully and barred him from issuing subpoenas to James’ office. A panel of judges in the Albany-based Northern District appointed former prosecutor Donald T. Kinsella to lead the office following the ruling, but the DOJ quickly fired him. Sarcone is still leading the office under the title of first assistant U.S. attorney.
But the wrangling over the legality of Sarcone’s appointment stems from the DOJ’s repeated attempts to secure an indictment against James and other top Democrats who have criticized the president’s agenda.
James, first elected in 2018, has been a frequent critic of Trump and has filed several multistate lawsuits against the Trump administration over federal immigration policies, rollbacks in federal funding, and worker layoffs and other actions. That includes a civil fraud trial that ended in a $454 million judgment against Trump and his company, which was later overturned by a New York appeals court. James has appealed the ruling.
James also waged a multiyear legal fight with the NRA after filing a civil suit in 2020 in response to news stories questioning then-Chief Executive Office Wayne LaPierre’s spending as the organization’s leader. In 2024, the New York Supreme Court rejected James’ bid for a court-appointed monitor to oversee the NRA but banned the group’s former head from holding a paid position with the organization for a decade.
James was indicted in October by a federal grand jury on one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution. She denied any wrongdoing and claimed the charges are politically motivated.
But a federal judge dismissed the indictment against James after ruling that Lindsey Halligan, the federal prosecutor handpicked by Trump to handle the case, was deemed unlawfully appointed.
Federal prosecutors tried at least twice after that to secure indictments against James, but grand juries refused to levy the charges.