A Trump U.S. Attorney’s Professional Misconduct Must Be Kept “Private and Confidential”

© THE INTERCEPT

A legal disciplinary panel won’t disclose any details about its inquiry into John Sarcone, a Trump loyalist in New York.

An ethics watchdog found that a Trump administration-appointed former U.S. attorney committed professional misconduct in response to allegations that included retaliating against a newspaper for negative coverage. But details about John Sarcone’s case have been deemed “private and confidential” — and aren’t being released to the public.

One of New York state’s grievance committees, disciplinary panels that determines penalties for violations of legal ethics, notified nonprofit groups last week of its finding against Sarcone, Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again U.S. attorney in Albany.

The committee is keeping mum on the exact nature of its findings, and in a letter to a press freedom group last week, it even tried to claim that the foundation could not disclose the very fact that it found “there was sufficient basis for a finding of professional misconduct.”