President Donald Trump was slapped down by a federal judge Thursday who said the government had “no binding authority” to demand his recusal from a lawsuit brought by Roger Rogoff, who was appointed as the top U.S. prosecutor in Seattle on July 15 and then axed by Trump in less than an hour.
Rogoff had been unanimously appointed as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington by the district’s federal judges to fill the vacancy left by Charles Neil Floyd, who was made interim U.S. attorney in October for 120 days by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.
When Floyd’s interim term expired in February, Trump’s Department of Justice made him first assistant U.S. attorney, allowing him to continue running the office while the U.S. attorney position remained vacant. Rogoff was appointed to fill the resulting vacancy, only to get fired 54 minutes later.
Rogoff’s July 21 lawsuit revived the question of whether a president can fire a prosecutor appointed by federal judges. Ricardo Martinez, who was appointed by ex-President George W. Bush, was the first judge assigned to the case — but reportedly recused himself.
The case then passed to U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian in Washington, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama and stated ahead of the 2020 election that Trump was using the U.S. Postal Service “as a tool in partisan politics.”
Trump’s DOJ was none too pleased by his assignment in the Rogoff case, and filed a motion demanding it be reassigned or that Bastian recuse himself. Bastian did no such thing — and published a three-page order Thursday denying the motion.
Bastian argued that while Trump and the Justice Department “take issue with the reassignment, asserting that allowing Judge Martinez to recuse himself and reassign the case was somehow improper,” there is “no binding precedent or rule that states reassignment must follow a certain procedure.”
The motion also stated that Trump and the DOJ “provide no binding authority that would require recusal.”
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press
“District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the day Rogoff was fired.
Attorneys for Rogoff argued in his lawsuit, however, that Trump had broken the law and the “purported firing also violates the Constitution.”