Legal News

A judge ruled Trump's top LA prosecutor is serving unlawfully. New titles didn't fix it.

Judge J. Michael Seabright barred Bill Essayli from two cases, citing a Ninth Circuit ruling. The Justice Department plans to appeal.

Stock photo. Photo by Margaret Giatras on Unsplash

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Bill Essayli, the Trump administration's pick to run federal prosecutions in Los Angeles and Southern California, is serving in that job unlawfully, and barred him from two criminal cases, MyNewsLA reported. Bloomberg Law reported that the judge found Essayli was unlawfully serving as a de facto U.S. attorney.

Senior U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright found that the Justice Department could not hand Essayli the powers of a U.S. attorney by naming him a "special attorney" and "first assistant" U.S. attorney. A revised delegation of authority didn't fix the problem, he ruled.

The order bars Essayli from participating in or supervising the prosecutions of Jaime Hector Ramirez and Tu Anh Tran, whose lawyers challenged his authority. Seabright declined to dismiss their indictments. The order won't take effect right away: it is automatically on hold while the Justice Department, which says it will appeal, asks for a longer stay, The Guardian reported.

How he got here. Essayli, a former Republican state assemblyman, became interim U.S. attorney in April 2025 and was never confirmed by the Senate. A year ago, Seabright ruled he was unlawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney but let him keep running the office as first assistant, CBS News reported. Defense lawyers renewed their challenge after the Ninth Circuit ruled in August that the department couldn't keep Nevada prosecutor Sigal Chattah in charge under a different title.

At an Oct. 13 hearing, Seabright questioned a Sept. 23 order from Attorney General Todd Blanche that tried to trim Essayli's powers, asking "What does this do?", Bloomberg Law reported.

What they said. Essayli said, "We respectfully disagree with the court's order," arguing that the president and attorney general can pick Justice Department supervisors. He said the Supreme Court will settle the question and that he plans to keep serving until then. Defense attorney H. Dean Steward called the ruling a win for the rule of law and the Constitution.

What's next. The Ninth Circuit will decide whether the order takes effect. Still unknown: whether other defendants will now challenge cases Essayli has overseen.

The Senate's confirmation power exists so presidents can't run federal prosecutions through loyalists no one voted on. We applaud the court for enforcing that line.