Judge rules Trump’s top federal prosecutor in L.A. is ‘unlawfully serving’

A federal judge Tuesday ruled that Bill Essayli is “not lawfully serving” in his position as acting U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, the latest rebuke of the Trump administration’s unusual maneuvers to keep political allies in power as chief federal prosecutors across the country.

Although the ruling disqualifies Essayli from continuing in the role of “acting” U.S. attorney, the judge said he can still remain in charge of the office as “first assistant,” a lesser title he already holds.

“I’m still here, I’m not planning to go anywhere. We’re still reviewing that order,” Essayli said at a news conference Wednesday. “We’re less concerned with titles and we’re more concerned with the authority of my position to be able to run this office as the chief federal law enforcement officer of this district. I think the judge has made clear, regardless of my title, I have the authority to run this office.”

Senior U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright of Hawaii was brought in to oversee motions seeking to disqualify Essayli after federal judges in Los Angeles recused themselves. His ruling follows a string of challenges nationwide to Trump’s tactics for installing loyalists who wield the power to bring criminal charges and sue on the government’s behalf.

Essayli, 39, a former Riverside County assemblyman, was appointed as the region’s interim top federal prosecutor by U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi in April.

The top prosecutors in charge of U.S. attorney’s offices are supposed to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate or an interim can be appointed by a panel of federal judges, but the Trump administration has circumvented the normal process in order to allow Essayli and others to remain on the job without ever facing a vote.

Since taking office, Essayli has doggedly pursued President Trump’s agenda, championing hard-line immigration enforcement in Southern California, often using the president’s language verbatim at news conferences. His tenure has sparked discord in the office, with dozens of career Justice Department prosecutors quitting.

Essayli’s temporary appointment was set to expire in late July, but the White House never moved to nominate him to a permanent role, instead opting to shift his title to “acting,” extending his term for an additional nine months.

Challenges to Essayli’s appointment were brought in at least three criminal cases, with defense lawyers arguing that the charges brought under his watch are invalid and should be dismissed. The federal public defender’s office in Los Angeles had asked the judge to disqualify Essayli from participating in and supervising criminal prosecutions in the district.

The judge declined to dismiss the indictments, finding that there had been no showing that Essayli’s supervision in the acting role had “improperly interfered with the grand jury process or led to any other specific actions that prejudiced Defendants.”

“We are glad to see that the Court has recognized the invalidity of Mr. Essayli’s appointment and hope this decision helps promote respect for our constitutional order,” Federal Public Defender Cuauhtémoc Ortega said in a statement.

The ruling Tuesday could be appealed, though neither side has yet given an indication of its next move.

In his decision, Seabright said he shared the concerns of federal public defenders that a ruling allowing Essayli to retain his authority would “be little remedy at all.”

Seabright — who was appointed to the bench by George W. Bush — said that although Essayli could not continue to be the acting U.S. attorney, “including prosecuting or supervising these cases in that role,” the court “has no basis to preclude Essayli from performing the lawful duties” of first assistant U.S. attorney.

“And in that capacity, he could supervise these prosecutions,” Seabright wrote.

The Department of Justice declined to comment on any of the rulings, citing ongoing litigation.

But the news sparked a back-and-forth on social media, after Sen. Adam Schiff posted on X about the judge’s ruling leaving Essayli in place.

“While this Administration continues to replace career professionals with illegitimate political allies eager to do Trump’s bidding, Californians need better relief than this,” Schiff wrote.

“I do the American People’s bidding at the direction of their duly elected President. That’s how our Constitution works,” Essayli responded. “Try reading and abiding by it sometime.”

Similar challenges have already played out in other district courts across the country.

A federal judge in August determined Alina Habba has been illegally occupying the U.S. attorney post in New Jersey, although that order was put on hold pending appeal. Last month, a federal judge disqualified Nevada’s top federal prosecutor, Sigal Chattah, from several cases, concluding she “is not validly serving as acting U.S. attorney.” Chattah’s disqualification is also paused while the Department of Justice appeals the decision.

James Comey, the former FBI director charged with lying to Congress, cited the Nevada and New Jersey cases in a recent filing, and is now challenging the legality of Trump’s appointment of Lindsey Halligan as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan was appointed after her predecessor, also a Trump appointee, refused to seek charges against Comey.

Seabright referenced the similar cases elsewhere, but said that when Essayli assumed the role “no court had disapproved of the practice.” Neither of the decisions in Nevada or New Jersey, he said, “is binding on this district court.”

“No other court — and significantly, no circuit court — has yet ruled,” he wrote.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Alexander P. Robbins previously told the judge the government believes Essayli’s term will end on Feb. 24 and that afterward the role of acting U.S. attorney will remain vacant.

Robbins argued in a filing that the court shouldn’t order Essayli “to remove the prosecutorial and supervisory hats that many others in this Office wear, sowing chaos and confusion into the internal workings of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the largest district in the country.”

When asked by a Times reporter last month about the motion to disqualify him, Essayli said “the president won the election.”

“The American people provided him a mandate to run the executive branch, including the U.S. attorney’s office, and I look forward to serving at the pleasure of the president,” he said during a news conference.