A federal judge ruled that the Trump-appointed acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in Southern California was serving in his position unlawfully, disqualifying him from overseeing multiple cases.
Wary of having to send his appointments through Congress, Trump has relied on loyalists appointed as temporary U.S. attorneys to crack down on crime and immigration. Essayli was one of those attorneys in an important jurisdiction. The former state legislator has stayed on as U.S. attorney since resigning from the interim role on July 29 due to his 120-day limit expiring, but has stayed to prosecute cases. On Tuesday, Judge J. Michael Seabright of the Federal District Court in Hawaii disqualified Essayli from overseeing any more cases in the role, siding with defendants.
Seabright ruled that Essayli “is not lawfully serving as acting United States Attorney” and “cannot continue to perform any role” that job entails.
However, the result wasn’t all bad for the Trump ally. The judge ruled that Essayli could continue as the top deputy of the office as first assistant U.S. attorney.
Mark Windsor, one of the private attorneys leading the challenge to Essayli’s position, complained that Trump was sidestepping congressional oversight with his actions around U.S. attorneys.
“They are trying to get around congressional oversight,” he said during the hearing in Los Angeles, the New York Times reported. “I don’t think that this court can avoid the conclusion that this really is an intentional, knowing, deliberate attempt to circumvent some of the key safeguards within our Constitution and that it deserves the most extreme remedy that this court can fashion in order to deter that conduct,” he added.
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Seabright said defendants were justified in finding the ruling “little remedy at all,” agreeing that Trump’s Department of Justice was circumventing the law’s intent, but that he was constrained “to apply the statutes as written.”
Essayli’s fate has befallen other Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys — judges ruled that U.S. attorney of Nevada, Sigal Chattah, was serving in her position illegally in September after the interim term expired, while another judge ruled the same with U.S. attorney in New Jersey, Alina Habba, in August.
