Judge Rules Bill Essayli Is Unlawfully Serving as LA’s Top Federal Prosecutor
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Bill Essayli is unlawfully serving as Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor and barred him from overseeing two criminal cases, dealing another blow to the Trump administration’s handling of U.S. attorney appointments.
“In sum, Essayli is unlawfully serving as a ‘de facto’ United States Attorney,” Senior U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright wrote, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Seabright delayed the disqualification while he weighs an expected government request for a stay pending appeal. He also declined to dismiss the indictments in the two cases, finding the defendants had not shown the substantial prejudice needed for that relief, Bloomberg Law reported.
The cases involve Jaime Hector Ramirez, charged as a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and Tu Anh Tran, charged with possessing property stolen from an interstate or foreign shipment, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Essayli, a former Republican state assemblyman from Riverside, said his office expected the ruling and “respectfully” disagreed. “The President and the Attorney General have every right to select supervisors within the Justice Department,” he said in a statement.
“Ultimately, this question will be decided by the Supreme Court, and I look forward to serving in my current role until then,” Essayli added.
A Title Change That Changed Nothing
Essayli was sworn in as interim U.S. attorney in April 2025. As he neared that post’s 120-day limit, he resigned, and then-Attorney General Pam Bondi named him a special attorney and first assistant U.S. attorney.
Seabright ruled last year that Essayli was not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney but let him keep supervising prosecutions in his other roles. A later 9th Circuit ruling against a similar arrangement for Nevada prosecutor Sigal Chattah undercut that setup.
The Justice Department tried to fix the problem with a revised delegation that withheld three powers reserved to a U.S. attorney. Seabright was not persuaded. “Withholding the three specific statutory powers mentioned in the revised designation order in reality withholds nothing,” he wrote.
Defense attorney H. Dean Steward, who filed the renewed challenge in August, called the decision “a victory for the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.”
The ruling is the latest roadblock to the administration’s effort to keep handpicked acting U.S. attorneys in place beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law, a strategy designed to bypass Senate confirmation, the Associated Press reported.
Appeals courts have already rejected similar arrangements for John Sarcone in Albany and Chattah in Nevada, and the government asked the Supreme Court earlier this month to take up those cases. The justices have not said whether they will hear them.
Under the schedule Seabright accepted, prosecutors have five business days to seek a stay. If he denies it, the disqualification would take effect one week later, unless he or an appeals court orders otherwise.
Trump still had not nominated anyone for the Central District of California post as of Tuesday, the judge noted. At an Oct. 13 hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Robbins warned of “the chaotic practical effects” of an order taking effect without a stay.
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