Federal judge disqualifies L.A. US attorney Bill Essayli from two cases

newsOct 28, 2026413,279

Senior U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright ruled Tuesday that Bill Essayli is unlawfully serving as Los Angeles’s top federal prosecutor and disqualified him from overseeing two criminal prosecutions, but he delayed the disqualifications from taking effect while considering a government request for a stay pending appeal. Seabright found that the Justice Department unlawfully delegated powers so broadly that Essayli, who has been titled first assistant U.S. attorney, in effect occupied the U.S. attorney’s position and wrote, "In sum, Essayli is unlawfully serving as a 'de facto' United States Attorney." The order bars Essayli from participating in or supervising the cases of defendants Jaime Hector Ramirez and Tu Anh Tran, yet Seabright declined to dismiss their indictments because the defendants had not shown the substantial prejudice required for that relief. Seabright’s new ruling follows his 2025 finding that Essayli was not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney and tracks a U.S. 9th Circuit decision that rejected a similar arrangement for Nevada prosecutor Sigal Chattah. The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the 9th Circuit Nevada decision; Essayli said his office expects the matter will be decided by the Supreme Court and that he intends to remain in his current role until then. Defense attorney H. Dean Steward, who renewed the challenge to Essayli’s authority, called the ruling a "victory for the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution," and the Justice Department is expected to pursue a stay and appeals that will determine whether the disqualification takes effect.

Allison Gill

@muellershewrote.com

NEW: A federal judge rules U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles Bill Essayli is serving unlawfully. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

16246h ago

T-Fish🇨🇦🍁31

Jesus!!!! Do republicans do anything legal?

The Phantom Judge You Harshly 👻15

Alina Habba has entered the chat.

ThereWillBeSwearing!10

I was wondering what he was doing in court. Does this mean everything he has said or done in court is nullified?

terps3040.bsky.social9

Letting him continue pending appeal just sets up any case he touches to be tossed later.

dwyatt8

ANOTHER?!!! Wow, what a banana republic DOJ we have.

pandagrl1.bsky.social6

Get that asshole out of here

Quoting this

Tamela Ehlinger 🇩🇰🇨🇦🇵🇦🇲🇽🇳🇴🇸🇪🇬🇧🇺🇦5

As I have said many times. I love my state

Nana Kim2

Should an attorney who takes a job for which he must know he was appointed unlawfully, get disbarred?

Nana Kim2

Should an attorney who takes a job for which he must know he was appointed unlawfully, get disbarred?

Frank Bowman2

What's puzzling about repeated refusal to appoint USA's legally is it seems, in most cases, unnecessary. There have been a few, e.g. Alina Habba & Lindsey Halligan, SO bad they mightn't have passed Senate. But most wld get thru. Tempted to think Trump just does this to thumb nose at system...

Kyle Griffin

@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

BREAKING: A federal judge just disqualified Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in southern California, from overseeing several cases — part of an ongoing legal battle over whether the Trump appointee has stayed in a temporary role longer than allowed by law.

13826h ago

Swiffy12

He's the lawyer on the CA voter roll segregation case

Kenny Hulse10

Well, I think we have determined by the litany of illqualified sychophants, placed in these positions, they aren’t there because of their brains and legal acumen. They are boot-lickers willing to do the bidding of the string pullers.

ctrl+alt+RESIST7

He stayed in the job past his legal expiration date and kept running prosecutions anyway. The top federal prosecutor in Southern California was basically squatting in office, and now his cases get to inherit the mess.

Heath 🇺🇸🇺🇦🌻5

Yay! This guy is a jerk.

🌊 Casper the Friendly Ghost 🌊 🏳️‍🌈5

Wasn’t he just arguing the California election case today? www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Ron©️ 🇺🇲🇺🇦3

Does anyone in the trump orbit do anything right? ever?

Quoting this

Alex2

Thank god. That guy is a legitimate psychopath

Jose Pagliery

@josepagliery.bsky.social

Bill Essayli has been disqualified from leading the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The order doesn't go into effect right away, though. The Trump admin keeps losing these cases everywhere.

1476h ago

Quoting this

Timothy Raben17

Haven't seen the full document yet but here was where I saw the headline bsky.app/profile/jose...

Liz Dye

@lizdye.bsky.social

Bill Essayli arguing for DOJ in CA vote purge? This will be UH-MAY-ZING

4611h ago

Liz Dye49

Me: [DRAMATIC GASP] My partner: OMG are you okay?? bsky.app/profile/chri...

RoseMarie

@rosesbloom24.bsky.social

A US judge ruled on Tuesday that Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in southern California, was “unlawfully serving” as the head of the US attorney’s office and was disqualified from overseeing two criminal prosecutions. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...?

94h ago

Sarah Szalavitz💡

@dearsarah.bsky.social

👏Federal judge disqualifies Trump-appointed prosecutor Bill Essayli ‘unlawfully serving’ in role www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... but omfg he’ll remain in the role because the DoJ is appealing. 😱 #ProsecuteThemAll

122h ago

Daisy Gardner

@daisygardner.bsky.social

Oh no! The DOJ guy in charge of interfering in California’s midterm elections for Trump is unlawfully serving! Sucks to suck, Bill Essayli! www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

95h ago

Rollie 🤬

@architecturenerd.bsky.social

Judge disqualifies MAGA prosecutor trying to obstruct California voters www.rawstory.com/bill-essayli...

95h ago

Yvonne Lam

@yvonnezlam.bsky.social

I cannot help wondering what would have happened if early on, someone had said, "You have not been confirmed by the Senate, and no one has to listen to you when you are acting in such-and-such a capacity." www.latimes.com/california/s...

84h ago

David Kurtz

@davidkurtz.bsky.social

Both Bill Essayli in Los Angeles and Pete Serrano in Spokane were installed as top prosecutors via a backdoor workaround that courts in other districts have already shot down as unlawful. Litigation has already been underway challenging the appointment of Essayli.

516h ago

Maximillian Potter

@maxpotter.bsky.social

“…Essayli has used his position to act as one of Trump’s fiercest legal foot soldiers. He has pursued criminal charges against protesters, activists and immigrants while dropping cases involving administration allies and supporting lawsuits challenging transgender…” www.latimes.com/california/s...

46h ago

Thomas Frampton

@tframpton.bsky.social

It’s inconceivable that Bilal Ali "Bill" Essayli doesn’t know Judge Sooknanan’s name or what he’s doing here.

69h ago

CONFLICT NEWS FELLA

@warosintfella.bsky.social

A federal judge voided Bill Essayli’s unlawful US attorney role, exposing Trump-era tactics to bypass Senate confirmation. His 'acting' title—a loophole the administration exploited—still lets him dodge accountability until the Supreme Court decides.

32h ago

WMBF News

@wmbfnews.com

Special master could evaluate DOJ claim of 20,000 noncitizens on California voter rolls #usnews

13h ago

𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐉.𝐒. 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐚 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 ¬1𝜄 = 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗂𝗈𝗍𝖺

@ajsdecepida.bsky.social

🔃 {𝐚𝑱𝑺𝑫} Trump promised “only the best people.” Apparently, the best at mistaking a new nameplate for legal authority. ↴ www.rawstory.com/bill-essayli...

35h ago

3 sources

latimes.comJudge finds L.A.’s top federal prosecutor is unlawfully serving, bars him from two cases theguardian.comFederal judge disqualifies Trump-appointed prosecutor for ‘unlawfully serving’ in role yahoo.comFederal judge disqualifies Trump-appointed prosecutor for ‘unlawfully serving’ in role

Federal judge disqualifies L.A. US attorney Bill Essayli from two casesnews

Federal judge disqualifies L.A. US attorney Bill Essayli from two cases

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