Prosecutors
US attorney appointed by federal judges in New York abruptly fired by Trump administration
Donald T. Kinsella, who was appointed as the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York to replace John A. Sarcone III, received an email from a White House official telling him that he was being removed from the post. (Photo from Whiteman Osterman & Hanna)
The appointment of a new U.S. attorney by federal judges in upstate New York this week ended abruptly after he was fired by the White House.
Donald T. Kinsella was appointed as the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York on Wednesday. But just hours later, Kinsella said, he received an email from a White House official telling him that he was being removed from the post, the New York Times reports.
When the New York Times reached Kinsella by phone, he said he did not know whether the White House email carried the force of law. He said he would discuss the matter with the district judges in the morning and go from there.
The Trump administration had previously suggested that it would fire any prosecutor chosen by district judges. Whether the Northern District of New York judges will have any recourse was unclear.
“Judges don’t pick U.S. Attorneys, @POTUS does,” said Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, in a social media post Wednesday. “See Article II of our Constitution. You are fired, Donald Kinsella.”
Kinsella, 79, has more than 50 years of experience as a criminal and civil litigator, the New York Times noted. He is a former criminal chief of the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of New York, which prosecutes crime in a broad swath of New York, including Albany, Syracuse and Utica. His hiring and firing were first reported by the Times Union in Albany.
Kinsella had been set to replace John A. Sarcone III, whom a judge found last month was serving unlawfully in the position, according to the New York Times.
See also:
Lindsey Halligan out as US attorney following pressure from judges
Appeals court rules Trump prosecutor appointment violates law
DOJ uses this maneuver to keep top federal prosecutors on the job, even after judges reject them
Interim US attorney gets new title after judicial panel rejection for permanent position
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