Judge Schofield Quashes Grand Jury Subpoenas, Finds Sarcone Not Lawfully Serving as Acting U.S. Attorney; Second Circuit Affirmed August 21, 2026

On January 8, 2026, the district court, with Judge Schofield of the Southern District of New York designated to decide the motion, quashed grand jury subpoenas that John A. Sarcone III had obtained as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, finding that Sarcone “was not lawfully serving as Acting U.S. Attorney when the subpoenas were issued.” On August 21, 2026, the Second Circuit held: “we AFFIRM the district court’s order quashing them.” Judge Park dissents in a separate opinion.

The same questions about acting U.S. Attorneys had been decided in other districts:

• New Jersey (Alina Habba). Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann’s memorandum opinion of August 21, 2025 concluded that Habba had exercised the functions and duties of the office without lawful authority since July 1, 2025. He disqualified her from the prosecutions of the Girauds and Mr. Pina and denied Mr. Pina’s motion to dismiss the indictment; and wrote of the Appointments Clause and other constitutional claims: “I do not reach the constitutional issues.” The Third Circuit (filed December 1, 2025) held: “Therefore, we will affirm the District Court’s disqualification order.”
• Nevada (Sigal Chattah). Judge David G. Campbell’s order (filed 09/30/25) was reviewed by the Ninth Circuit (filed August 17, 2026), which affirmed the district court’s order disqualifying Sigal Chattah from supervising the prosecutions of the defendants and held that “we lack appellate jurisdiction to review the district court’s denial of defendants’ motions to dismiss their indictments.”
• Central District of California (Bilal A. Essayli). In a consolidated order in United States v. Ramirez, Judge J. Michael Seabright, dated October 28, 2025, resolved three motions to dismiss indictments and to disqualify Essayli. He ruled that Essayli was not lawfully serving as Acting United States Attorney, disqualified him from participating in the defendants’ prosecutions in that role, denied the requests to dismiss the indictments, and noted that Essayli remains the First Assistant United States Attorney.

See also 2025-11-24–halligan-indictments-dismissed-appointment-unconstitutional.