Judge Just Disqualified Trump’s California Prosecutor For One Reason, But There’s A Loophole Keeping Him In Power

A federal judge has kicked President Trump’s top prosecutor in Los Angeles off several cases. The judge says Bill Essayli is working in his job illegally. But thanks to a legal trick, he gets to stay in the same office doing almost the same work.

According to The Hill, U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright made his decision on Tuesday. He said Essayli was supposed to leave his job as acting U.S. attorney when July ended. That was when his 120 days in the temporary job ran out. He is the third person Trump appointed who has been told by a judge that he stayed too long in his position.

The judge said Essayli took the acting U.S. attorney job in an unlawful way. But here is the twist. Even though the judge removed him from that role, he let Essayli keep working as first assistant U.S. attorney. That is the second most important job in the office. Essayli posted on social media that this means nothing is really changing for him.

The Justice Department Found A Clever Workaround To Keep Him There

Essayli was able to hang onto his power because Attorney General Pam Bondi made some creative moves. Right before his 120 days ended, she gave him the job of first assistant U.S. attorney. She also named him a special attorney who could step in as acting U.S. attorney whenever that spot opened up. Then Essayli stepped out of his temporary role and jumped right back into the acting position.

Judge Seabright said he gets why the defense lawyers are frustrated about this. They argued that the Justice Department should not be able to use tricks to do something the law says they cannot do directly. The judge wrote that his decision does not really fix much at all.

“For those who didn’t read the entire order, nothing is changing. I 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,” he wrote on X. 

But Seabright said his job is just to follow what the law says. According to federal law, judges in the Central District of California can pick a different temporary U.S. attorney until the Senate approves whoever Trump wants for the permanent job.

This is not just happening to Essayli. Alina Habba works as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey and used to be Trump’s personal lawyer. A judge said in August that she was holding her job illegally because her 120 days ended in July. An appeals court listened to arguments about her case recently and did not seem convinced by what the Trump administration said. She is still working while the appeal goes on.

In Nevada, acting U.S. attorney Sigal Chattah was told last month that she could not supervise several criminal cases anymore. A judge said her time in the job ran out when her temporary term ended. That decision is on hold while an appeal happens. 

There might be a fourth case coming soon. Both former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James are questioning Trump’s pick of Lindsey Halligan for a temporary prosecutor job in the Eastern District of Virginia. There will be a hearing about their concerns on November 13.

The Trump administration has run into other legal problems with the Justice Department lately. These fights over appointments are happening at the same time that the former president is trying to get a large amount of money from the DOJ because of past investigations into what he did.