Donald T. Kinsella was sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York Wednesday evening. Four hours later, President Trump fired him from his post.
Federal judges appointed Kinsella, 79, to be upstate New York’s top prosecutor earlier Wednesday and swore him in later in the day. Just hours after taking over the office, he received an email from the White House firing him, without explanation.
Kinsella did not share the email with MS NOW but described it in a phone interview on Thursday, saying it was sent by a White House staffer who was “directed by the president to remove me.”
Kinsella says he laughed when he opened it: “I was not surprised by the firing.”
“When I agreed to take the [position], I knew there was a possibility that the president would fire me.” But, he added, he didn’t think it would happen on his first day.
“I probably set a record.”
Late Wednesday night, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the firing in a post on X, writing: “Judges don’t pick U.S. Attorneys, POTUS does. See Article II of our Constitution. You are fired, Donald Kinsella.”
Kinsella assumed the position to fill the vacancy left by the interim U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III, who was backed by Trump and eventually deemed unlawfully appointed by a federal judge.
While Blanche’s post implies the White House fired Kinsella over the way in which he was appointed, the process of that appointment is in accordance with the law. It states that the Attorney General can appoint a U.S. Attorney to serve on an interim basis for a term of 120 days without Senate confirmation. Once that term expires, federal law allows the district court’s judges to appoint a U.S. Attorney until a vacancy is filled.
The process is not uncommon and there have been other recent examples.
Judges in the Eastern District of Virginia unanimously appointed Erik Siebert to serve as U.S. Attorney after his 120 day term as the interim U.S. Attorney expired. He served in that role until he was pressured to resign after declining to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Federal judges also appointed Trump-backed Jay Clayton of the Southern District of New York after his interim term had expired. He continues to serve as the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan.
Kinsella is a seasoned attorney with over 50 years of criminal and civil litigation practice. Even so, he says he was a reluctant hire. “I didn’t wake up one day and say gee, I’m going to do this,” Kinsella told MS NOW.
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