President Trump’s embattled interim U.S. attorney in Albany, N.Y., is back leading the office under an unusual new title, just days after a panel of judges refused to appoint him to lead the office permanently.
According to a letter from the Justice Department’s human resources division, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, John A. Sarcone III has been named “special attorney to the attorney general.” The appointment, the letter says, gives him the powers of a U.S. attorney, and is “indefinite.”
The move means that Mr. Sarcone is the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, according to a spokesman for the office, as well as its first assistant, occupying two positions at once.
The title of special attorney has historically been granted to officials with a particular expertise to lead difficult or complex prosecutions, such as that of Timothy McVeigh, the domestic terrorist. It does not appear to have ever been bestowed upon a leader of a U.S. attorney’s office.
