The Trump administration fired the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York Wednesday just hours after a panel of federal judges selected him for the role, marking the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s battle with courts over control of federal prosecutor appointments.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that longtime lawyer Donald Kinsella had been removed shortly after judges in the district tapped him to replace President Donald Trump‘s preferred pick, John Sarcone III, whose interim term had expired.

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