A Bush-appointed federal judge ruled on Tuesday that acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bilal “Bill” Essayli, was illegally appointed, though Essayli said “nothing is changing.”
Essayli was sworn in as U.S. Attorney in April after being appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Judge Seabright ruled in a 64-page order that the acting attorney had unlawfully assumed his role after resigning in July as interim U.S. attorney, partly due to not being confirmed by the Senate yet, according to NBC News.
“Essayli may not perform the functions and duties of the United States Attorney as Acting United States Attorney. He is disqualified from serving in that role,” Seabright said.
In a response late Tuesday on X, Essayli wrote, “For those who didn’t read the entire order, nothing is changing,” while posting a photo of a page from the ruling.
“I [will] continue serving as the top federal prosecutor in the Central District of California. [It’s] an honor and privilege to serve President Trump and Attorney General Bondi, and I look forward to advancing their agenda for the American People,” Essayli wrote.
According to the order, Seabright stated that Essayli was “properly appointed as a Special Attorney and designated” as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney (FAUSA) for the Central District, adding that while he was “never lawfully serving as Acting United States Attorney,” he will remain FAUSA.
“The court has no basis to preclude Essayli from performing the lawful duties of a FAUSA. And in that capacity, he could supervise these prosecutions (even though he cannot do so as Acting United States Attorney),” Seabright wrote.
Additionally, Seabright declined to drop the cases Essayli had been involved in prosecuting, noting they were “lawfully signed by other attorneys for the government” and that “there has been no showing of due process violations or other irregularities” in the prosecutions.
The ruling from Seabright comes as multiple Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) appointees face legal challenges to their appointments. An Obama-appointed federal judge ruled in August that Alina Habba was “unlawfully” serving as the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey.
Habba had originally been appointed to serve as interim U.S. attorney in March by President Donald Trump, with her nomination to the position becoming permanent July 1. During Habba’s 120-day appointment, her nomination had yet to be heard or confirmed by the Senate.
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