Inset: Robert N. Tracci is shown in a profile photograph from the U.S. Department of Justice. Background: President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office at the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
In late November 2025, a federal judge barred prosecutor Lindsey Halligan from continuing in a leadership position with the so-called Rocket Docket. The judge ruled that Halligan was a “private citizen” who had never been legally appointed to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Now, amid what could become another in a long line of appointment challenges confronting the Trump administration — including one since Halligan’s removal — a second temporary federal prosecutor is facing a similar threat of disqualification.
In a 13-page consolidated motion, a criminal defendant charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm is seeking to disqualify Robert N. Tracci, the former “Acting U.S. Attorney” appointed to lead the Western District of Virginia in August 2025 by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.
In March, Tracci’s title changed again, though his responsibilities largely remained the same, when he was redesignated as “First Assistant U.S. Attorney.”
The Justice Department’s shifting titles and interim arrangements have become commonplace over the past two years, as President Donald Trump has repeatedly struggled to secure Senate confirmation for nominees, despite Republican control of the chamber.
In a recurring source of controversy, the White House has increasingly abandoned the traditional path of Senate confirmation for these posts, instead relying on a succession of temporary appointments authorized under different federal statutes.
Critics of the second Trump administration, however, have frequently challenged the legality of those appointments.
In this case, defendant Michael Antonio David Jr. characterizes Tracci’s appointment as “a transparent trick to end run the Appointments Clause and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.”
According to David, “the Attorney General in 2025 and 2026 undertook a series of cynical measures designed to avoid subjecting Mr. Tracci and others to senatorial scrutiny and confirmation.”
The motion further alleges that the Justice Department has only “purportedly” complied with one of the statutes the Trump administration has invoked to shift prosecutors between positions.
“Some 210 days after Mr. Tracci supposedly became ‘Acting United States Attorney,’ the Attorney General on or about March 19, 2026, recognized him for the second time as First Assistant,” the motion states. “Mr. Tracci continues to hold the First Assistant title. He operates as de facto United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, despite never having been nominated by the President nor confirmed by the Senate.”
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The filing portrays Tracci’s appointment as part of broader “Executive branch machinations” designed to circumvent the “presidential appointment and Senate confirmation process.”
David’s motion points to several recent disqualification victories in federal appellate courts, including cases involving Alina Habba in the 3rd Circuit, John Sarcone in the 2nd Circuit and Sigal Chattah in the 9th Circuit.
“The case at bar is much like the decisions from the Second, Third and Ninth Circuits,” the motion says. “Mr. Tracci has never been nominated by the President nor confirmed by the Senate. No bureaucratic titles or sleights of hand can overcome Mr. Tracci’s failure to undergo the [appointment and confirmation] Process.”
The challenge is directly tied to David’s own criminal case. His motion to disqualify Tracci was filed together with a request to dismiss the indictment against him.
“The Indictment appears to have been signed by two persons: (1) the Foreperson of the grand jury; and (2) Mr. Tracci, as ‘Acting United States Attorney,’” the filing states. “Particularly since Mr. Tracci unlawfully signed the Indictment as ‘Acting United States Attorney,’ the appropriate remedy here is dismissal or nullification of that charging instrument.”
The filing continues:
Mr. Tracci has participated directly and indirectly in the Department of Justice’s prosecution of David since its inception. The face of the Indictment manifests his direct involvement. The Indictment bears his ultra vires signature as “Acting United States Attorney.”
David’s argument also draws support from earlier court rulings.
In several jurisdictions where “first assistant” U.S. attorneys assumed control of federal prosecutors’ offices, legal challenges have produced more than disqualifications. Some courts have dismissed entire cases after finding that prosecutors were improperly installed, prompting defense lawyers to scrutinize other matters involving the disputed officials’ names on court filings. Those efforts, however, have met with mixed results.
“Defendants have challenged the Attorney General’s circumvention of the [appointment and confirmation] Process in motions to dismiss their indictments and disqualify the First Assistant from exercising authority reserved for officers who have withstood the [appointment and confirmation] Process,” the motion says.
David is asking to become the first defendant to win a comparable challenge against Tracci. He is seeking dismissal of his indictment, either with or without prejudice.
The post “A transparent trick”: Yet another U.S. attorney appointed by the Trump administration faces disqualification challenge as defendant claims prosecutor “unlawfully” signed indictment first appeared on Law & Crime.
