A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Bill Essayli is unlawfully running the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles as a "de facto" U.S. attorney, and barred him from supervising two prosecutions, though the order is on hold while the government seeks a stay.
U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright wrote that "Essayli is unlawfully serving as a 'de facto' United States Attorney," NBC Los Angeles reported. He found Essayli "disqualified from participating in or supervising" the prosecutions of the two defendants who brought the challenge. The ruling will not take effect until the court decides the government's motion for a stay pending appeal.
How Essayli got here
Federal law lets an interim U.S. attorney serve for 120 days without Senate confirmation. The Trump administration installed Essayli, a Republican, as acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California in 2025. As that clock was about to run out on July 29, 2025, he resigned the interim post and was appointed "special attorney" with the title First Assistant U.S. Attorney, MyNewsLA reported.
Seabright already ruled against him once. In October 2025 he disqualified Essayli from overseeing several criminal cases, finding he had stayed in the temporary role longer than the law allows, according to NBC Los Angeles. Essayli stayed on as first assistant, and because the administration never named another acting U.S. attorney, he remained the office's effective chief. Attorney General Todd Blanche later issued a revised designation that trimmed some of his duties.
The Nevada precedent
The new ruling leans on the Ninth Circuit's August decision that Sigal Chattah, the administration's first pick to lead federal prosecutions in Nevada, was unlawfully appointed. Seabright wrote that the appointment of Essayli as special attorney and first assistant "is identical" to Chattah's, and that "nothing in the revised designation order materially distinguishes it from the Chattah designation order," per NBC Los Angeles. The Blanche order, he wrote, "is functionally equivalent to Essayli's prior ineffective designation," MyNewsLA reported.
The Los Angeles fight is one of several. A New Jersey judge disqualified acting U.S. attorney Alina Habba in 2025, and in January a judge ruled that John Sarcone was not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York. Appointment challenges have also shadowed the Comey prosecutions, where defense lawyers attacked the appointment of Lindsey Halligan, as we noted in What Happens at a Criminal Arraignment.
The newsroom's arithmetic
The 120-day limit is the yardstick the courts keep returning to, so it is worth measuring how far past it Essayli has gone.
July 29, 2025: The interim 120-day term was about to expire, per MyNewsLA.
October 27, 2026: Seabright's ruling.
Days between those dates: 455.
Ratio: Essayli has led the office as first assistant for about 3.8 times the full length of the interim term the statute allows, and that does not count the 120 days he served before the switch.
What the ruling does not do
The order is narrower than the headline. It applies to the two defendants who challenged Essayli, one of them Tu Anh Tran, whose case is in Orange County. Seabright also denied their motions to dismiss the charges, so both prosecutions go forward under other supervisors if the order takes effect. In practice, the remedy for an unlawful prosecutor is usually a new prosecutor, not a dismissal.
Still, the ruling could invite copycat motions from other defendants in the district, MyNewsLA reported. Tran's lawyer, Dean Steward, called it "a victory for the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution" and said "The Trump administration ignored the laws governing the appointment of U.S. Attorneys and got caught in Los Angeles."
Essayli's response
Essayli said the government respectfully disagrees and that "Ultimately, this question will be decided by the Supreme Court." On X he wrote, "Just so there's no confusion, today's order is stayed and has no immediate effect," and added, "I remain First Assistant U.S. Attorney and continue running the office." He said the president and the attorney general have every right to choose supervisors inside the Justice Department.
The same office is also in the middle of the federal fight over California mail ballots, which we covered in Appeals Court Tosses DOJ Bid on 20,000 California Ballots.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
