Federal Judge Rules Bill Essayli Is Unlawfully Serving as 'De Facto' U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Bill Essayli, the Trump administration's top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, is unlawfully serving as a "de facto" U.S. attorney and disqualified him from supervising two criminal cases, according to a 32-page order reviewed by The Digital Free Press.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright found that a revised designation order issued last month by Attorney General Todd Blanche, meant to narrow Essayli's authority, did not change the outcome. Even in his designated roles as special attorney and first assistant, Essayli "is unlawfully serving as a 'de facto' United States Attorney," the judge wrote.

The order covers two prosecutions in the Central District of California: United States v. Jaime Hector Ramirez and United States v. Tu Anh Tran. Seabright is hearing the matter because, according to the order, all of the Central District's judges have been recused from motions over Essayli's disqualification.

Why the Judge Disqualified Essayli

Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Essayli interim U.S. attorney on March 27, 2025. When his 120-day term was about to run out on July 29, 2025, he resigned that post, and Bondi immediately named him a special attorney and designated him first assistant U.S. attorney, which the order describes as an attempt to make him acting U.S. attorney. Fox News reported that Essayli was never formally nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate. U.S. attorneys are normally confirmed by the Senate, and home-state senators traditionally sign off on nominees. According to RedState's Jennifer Van Laar, California's senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, would never sign off on an Essayli nomination, so the administration instead relied on the interim appointment and the first assistant designation.

Last year, Seabright ruled that the arrangement did not make Essayli acting U.S. attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, but he let Essayli keep supervising prosecutions as first assistant. That changed after Aug. 17, 2026, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in United States v. Jackson against an identical arrangement for Nevada's top federal prosecutor, Sigal Chattah. The defendants then renewed their motions.

On Sept. 23, Blanche signed Order No. 7207-2026, which authorized Essayli to exercise "certain functions and duties" of the U.S. attorney's office but not any duty that "by law may be performed only by a United States Attorney." The government told the court the change was meant to distinguish Essayli's role from the one rejected in Jackson.

Seabright disagreed. He called the new language a "boilerplate limitation" and wrote that the revised order "is functionally equivalent to Essayli's prior ineffective designation." He concluded that Essayli is still disqualified from "participating in or supervising these cases" and from "otherwise supervising any attorneys in the handling of these cases."

Indictments Stand, Appeal Expected

The judge refused to dismiss the indictments against Ramirez and Tran. He wrote that the indictments were signed by assistant U.S. attorneys, not Essayli, and that he found no sign of a due process violation or misconduct before the grand jury.

The disqualification does not take effect right away. Under an Oct. 19 agreement among the parties, the government said it would appeal and seek a stay. If the court denies a stay, the order takes effect one week later, subject to any appeals court ruling.

"We respectfully disagree with the court's order," Essayli said in a statement to Fox News. He added that "ultimately, this question will be decided by the Supreme Court, and I look forward to serving in my current role until then."

The ruling lands as Essayli helps lead a high-profile Justice Department effort in federal court over roughly 20,000 California registered voters the administration says are likely noncitizens, according to Fox News. The department has asked a judge to have ballots tied to those voters set aside while their eligibility is reviewed, ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.

Sources: Order in United States v. Ramirez, No. 5:25-cr-00264, and United States v. Tran, No. 8:25-cr-00250 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 27, 2026): https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.1000843/gov.uscourts.cacd.1000843.73.0.pdf ; docket: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72085970/united-states-v-tran/ ; Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-rules-bill-essayli-unlawfully-serving-de-facto-us-attorney-california ; RedState: https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2026/10/28/judge-rules-us-atty-essayli-illegally-performing-duties-n2208705 ; Jennifer Van Laar on X: https://x.com/jenvanlaar/status/2115329555510735293