Top Prosecutor Faces ‘Acting’ Status Challenge
- A federal judge heard arguments Tuesday to decide whether maneuvers used by the Trump administration to install Bill Essayli as acting United States attorney in Los Angeles are...
- During a Tuesday hearing in downtown L.A., Senior Judge J.
- Essayli, a former Riverside County assemblyman, was appointed as the region's interim top federal prosecutor by U.S.
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Judge Questions Trump Administration Maneuver Extending LA US Attorney’s Term
A federal judge heard arguments Tuesday to decide whether maneuvers used by the Trump administration to install Bill Essayli as acting United States attorney in Los Angeles are improper – and, if so, what shoudl be done about it.
During a Tuesday hearing in downtown L.A., Senior Judge J. Michael Seabright – who flew in from Hawaii for the proceeding – wondered how to proceed after defence attorneys sought to dismiss indictments against three clients and to disqualify Essayli “from participating in criminal prosecutions in this district.”
Essayli, a former Riverside County assemblyman, was appointed as the region’s interim top federal prosecutor by U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi in April.
his term was set to expire in late July unless he was confirmed by the U.S.Senate or a panel of federal judges. But the White House never moved to nominate him to a permanent role, instead opting to use an unprecedented legal maneuver to shift his title to “acting,” extending his term for an additional nine months without any confirmation process.
Seabright was selected from the District of Hawaii after L.A.’s federal judges recused themselves from the proceedings. He questioned the consequences of dismissing any charges over Essayli’s title.
“if I did this for your client, I’ll have to do it for every single defendant who was indicted when Mr. Essayli was acting under the rubric of acting U.S. attorney, correct?” Seabright said to a deputy federal public defender.
“I don’t think you will,” replied James A. Flynn. “This is a time-specific, case-specific analysis and the court doesn’t need to go so far as to decide that a dismissal would be appropriate in all cases.”
“Why not? You’re asking for a really draconian remedy here,” Seabright said, before questioning how many indictments had been made as Essayli was designated acting U.S. attorney at the end of July.
“203, your honor,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Alexander P. Robbins responded.
In a court filing ahead of the hearing Tuesday,lawyers bringing the challenge against Essayli called the government’s defense of his status “a handbook for circumventing the protections that the Constitution and Congress built against the limitless,unaccountable handpicking of temporary officials.”
During the nearly two-hour hearing, Flynn cited similar legal challenges that have played out elsewhere. A federal judge ruled in August that 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.”
The judges who ruled on the Nevada and New Jersey cases did not dismiss the charges against defendants, rather ordering that those cases not be supervised by habba or Chattah.
Flynn argued that the remedies in other states provide a viable path forward.