The Department of Justice (DOJ) fired U.S. Attorney for western Washington State Roger Rogoff Wednesday less than an hour after he was unanimously appointed by the district’s 17 federal judges.
Rogoff told the Associated Press that the Trump administration emailed him shortly after he was sworn in at 8:00 a.m. in downtown Seattle, informing him of his termination. He was still in the lobby of the U.S. attorney’s office at the time, The Hill reported.
President Donald Trump had named former immigration judge Charles Neil Floyd as interim U.S. attorney for the district in October. After Floyd’s 120-day stint in the role concluded in February, President Trump changed his title to first assistant U.S. attorney, per the report.
A federal appeals court panel expressed doubt that President Trump’s actions were legal, and the group of 17 federal judges subsequently appointed Rogoff. Rogoff is a former King County Superior Court judge and previously served as assistant U.S. attorney in the district.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche backed the president’s actions in a post to X on Wednesday.
Blanche wrote:
District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them. WDWA judges abandoned the time-honored process of consultation with the administration so that the selected U.S. Attorney is qualified to serve in the administration,”
Roger Rogoff has been fired by the President.
Rogoff told the AP on Wednesday that he is “really proud” of his career despite the termination. He said he is consulting with other lawyers about whether he should take legal action against the Trump administration.
“The fact that the judges of this district — most of whom I’ve spent my career appearing in front of, or trying cases against, or working with — believed that I was the right person to do this work is just really humbling and amazing,” he said.
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