Trump lawyer John Sarcone engaged in 'professional misconduct,' committee finds

It's unclear what, if any, discipline he received from the Attorney Grievance Committee.

Sarcone during his brief stint as U.S. Attorney (Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)

New York’s Attorney Grievance Committee confirmed “there was a sufficient basis for a finding of professional misconduct” against John Sarcone, a former Trump campaign lawyer turned disqualified U.S. Attorney.

Sarcone had launched a criminal investigation of New York Attorney General Letitia James last year before a federal judge found that he was unlawfully appointed to the role of the top federal prosecutor in Albany, N.Y.

The Attorney Grievance Committee of New York’s Appellate Division, Third Department asserted that it “took appropriate action” on the misconduct.

“With this action the matter is concluded,” the Committee’s chair Elena Jaffe Tastensen wrote in a single-page letter.

“We regret that we cannot be more specific about the nature of the action taken and in accordance with Judiciary Law §90(10) and Atty. Disc. Rules §1240.18, all papers, records and documents of a disciplinary investigation and proceeding are sealed and deemed private and confidential,” she added.

Campaign for Accountability’s executive director Michelle Kuppersmith, slammed the secrecy surrounding the resolution.

“While we’re pleased the New York Attorney Grievance Committee recognized that Mr. Sarcone, who remains First Assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, engaged in professional misconduct, a secret slap on the wrist is insufficient,” Kuppersmith said in a statement. “Mr. Sarcone’s pattern of conduct reflects on his credibility as an officer of the court, so any court in which he appears—along with the public—deserves to know what he was sanctioned for and why.”

In a video interview, Kuppersmith added: “John Sarcone is putting cases forth in front of federal courts. Every judge should know what John Sarcone did and what the bar thought that he did wrong.”

Last August, Kuppersmith filed the complaint against Sarcone on behalf of her watchdog group, accusing him of engaging in “erratic and potentially illegal conduct.”

The Campaign for Accountability’s complaint said that Sarcone may have “engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation” during a bizarre scandal involving his claims against an undocumented immigrant named Saul Morales-Garcia.

Sarcone had alleged that Morales-Garcia attempted to murder him outside a hotel in Albany, but surveillance video revealed that the interaction fell short of the then-U.S. Attorney’s allegations. Morales-Garcia’s charges were reduced to misdemeanor menacing, and the Northern District of New York’s judges refused to extend Sarcone’s interim term in the wake of the incident.

In filing his police report, Sarcone listed a home address that appeared to be a boarded-up house, leading critics to argue that he falsely claimed residence in the district to keep his job. Sarcone denied the allegations.

After the Albany Times-Union reported on the incident, Sarcone blacklisted that local newspaper in an action described in the complaint as an abuse of power.

The Attorney Grievance Committee wouldn’t confirm which of the allegations rose to the level of professional misconduct or what action was taken in response to it.

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Read the Committee’s letter here and the watchdog’s complaint here.