Former U.S. Attorneys Warn Trump’s Firing of a Court-Appointed Prosecutor Could Put Federal Criminal Cases at Risk
August 19, 2026
Trump removed Roger Rogoff as U.S. attorney less than an hour after his appointment, leaving indictments, warrants, subpoenas, and long-running investigations vulnerable to legal challenges
SEATTLE, WA—A bipartisan group of former U.S. attorneys, supported by Democracy Defenders Fund and Ashurst Perkins Coie US LLP, filed an amicus brief today in Rogoff v. Trump warning the president’s firing of Roger Rogoff, a court-appointed U.S. attorney, threatens the integrity of the constitutional judicial appointment process and risks delegitimizing critical federal criminal cases.
President Trump fired Roger Rogoff less than an hour after he was sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington on July 15, 2026. The district’s federal judges unanimously selected Rogoff after the 120-day term of interim U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd expired without a Senate-confirmed replacement. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche later announced Rogoff’s firing on social media, citing the district judges’ failure to consult the administration before selecting Rogoff.
The president and Blanche’s actions threaten the integrity of the appointments process outlined by Congress and the Constitution as the president is not permitted to sidestep the judiciary’s role by firing their selections at will.
“In 1940, then attorney general Robert Jackson told an assembly of his U.S. Attorneys, that, because of the ‘immense power to strike at citizens…with all the force of government’ they wielded, it was necessary for them to have the confidence of both the President and the Senate. ‘You are thus required to win an expression of confidence in your character by both the legislative and the executive branches of the government before assuming the responsibilities of a federal prosecutor.’ That principle is as important today as it was then and at the founding of our country. This administration should not be permitted to skirt the rules simply because it doesn’t like them,” said Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.
“The President is engaged in an unconstitutional scheme to void the Senate’s advice and consent role when it comes to U.S. Attorneys,” said John McKay, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington. “Requiring Senate confirmation of U.S. Attorneys is a critical part of maintaining political independence in our system of justice and the unchecked appointment of his MAGA loyalists is a threat to the rule of law.”
“The Trump administration is attempting to shatter the rule of law, yet again,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “By treating statutory limits on U.S. Attorney vacancies as optional and ruthlessly purging court-appointed prosecutors, they are engineering an authoritarian workaround that brazenly cuts out the judiciary. This is an attempt to seize unchecked, indefinite control over federal prosecutor offices nationwide.”
The former U.S. Attorneys argue in the brief that the stakes extend well beyond Seattle, noting that roughly a dozen U.S. Attorney’s offices around the country are currently being led by first assistants who were not presidentially appointed, attorney general-appointed, or court-appointed as U.S. Attorneys.
The Amici, who served as U.S. Attorneys under presidents of both parties, warn that uncertainty over an office’s lawful leadership can jeopardize its cases, with dangerous consequences for criminal prosecutions. Defendants could seek to challenge indictments or other actions on the grounds that they were approved by an official who did not lawfully hold the office of U.S. Attorney, forcing courts to decide whether those actions remain valid or whether prosecutors acting under that official’s direction can continue participating in a case. The resulting uncertainty could disrupt years-long investigations involving public corruption, organized fraud, transnational trafficking, and other serious crimes. It could also leave indictments, subpoenas, warrants, and grand-jury proceedings tied up in additional litigation and delay.
Congress put limits on how long the Justice Department can run a U.S. Attorney’s office without a permanent, Senate-confirmed prosecutor. The attorney general can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney for up to 120 days. If that appointment expires and the vacancy remains, federal judges in the district can appoint someone to serve until the president nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement.
The former prosecutors are urging the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to grant Rogoff’s motion for a preliminary injunction as his challenge to his removal proceeds. Rogoff is not the first court-appointed U.S. attorney to be removed by the Trump administration. Judge-appointed prosecutors in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York have also been fired.
A full list of the amici curiae, who are represented by Amb. Norm Eisen, Steve Jonas, and Diamond Brown of Democracy Defenders Fund and Harry H. Schneider, Jr, David J. Burman, Kevin J. Hamilton, Jonathan P. Hawley, Nicholas S. Crown, John P. Bailey, and Abigail F. Vice of Ashurst Perkins Coie US LLP can be found here.
Read the full amicus brief here.
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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.
For media inquiries, contact press@democracydefenders.org.
