Federal Defenders Ask Judge to Disqualify Bill Essayli From U.S. Attorney Post

Essayli, a former state Assembly member, has not responded to the filing that alleges he has acted illegally as the Central District's top prosecutor since his 120-appointment ended in July.

Federal public defenders on Friday moved to disqualify acting U.S. Attorney Bilal "Bill" Essayli from his post as top prosecutor in California's Central District, echoing recent findings by a New Jersey judge targeting the status of another Trump administration appointee.

Deputy public defenders James Flynn and Aya Sarsour filed the 63-page motion to disqualify Essayli and to dismiss the Aug. 13 felon-in-posession-of-a-firearm indictment against their client, Jaime Ramirez. The case is currently before U.S. Judge Sunshine Suzanne Sykes.

A message seeking comment from Essayli's spokesperson was not immediately returned on Friday.

The defenders allege Essayli has had no lawful authority to act as U.S. attorney for the seven-county Central District since his 120-day appointment from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi expired in late July. The Central District bench could have extended Essayli's term, but no such action was ever recorded.

The motion filed Friday accuses Essayli and the U.S. Department of Justice of engaging in a "four-step maneuver" on July 29 to keep the former Riverside County assemblyman the de facto U.S. attorney. Bondi named Essayli a special attorney and then appointed him first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District “effective upon his resignation as United States Attorney," the filing said. Essayli then quit his job as interim attorney while announcing in a resignation letter that he "looked forward to" continuing to lead the office, according to the defenders.

Bondi followed by announcing "Mr. Essayli will have authority to serve as Acting United States Attorney upon a vacancy in that office," the motion said.

Essayli has remained the office's leader, championing President Donald Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants and frequently chafing with regional Democrats. Trump has never nominated Essayli, knowing that he would never receive the support from California's two Democratic U.S. senators.

"If the Court concludes that Mr. Essayli’s ongoing service as acting U.S. Attorney complies with the governing statutes, it will be ratifying a vacancy scheme in which the Attorney General can designate never-confirmed individuals to serve as temporary U.S. Attorneys in perpetuity," Flynn and Sarsour wrote. "Such a regime is incompatible with the Appointments Clause, which requires Senate confirmation for all principal officers, including individuals acting as U.S. Attorneys."

The filing follows an Aug. 21 ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann of Pennsylvania's Middle District that Trump appointee Alina Habba was illegally holding the position of U.S. attorney for New Jersey. Like Essayli, Habba had received a 120-day appointment from Bondi. Her tenure expired July 1.

Federal judges in New Jersey declined to extend Habba's tenure and instead appointed her top assistant to the job. Bondi then fired the court's appointee, named Habba a special attorney and appointed her to the now-vacant first assistant job, making Trump's former personal lawyer the head of the New Jersey district again.

Brann called the series of events "a novel series of legal and personnel moves" that did not pass legal muster.

Unlike Essayli, Habba has been nominated as U.S. attorney by the president, although the U.S. Senate has yet to act.

Brann's ruling in the Habba matter is on hold pending an appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Brann was sitting by designation in the case challenging Habba's authority.
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The Trump administration has used interim and acting appointments in other districts, including those in California, where Democratic U.S. senators are unlikely to approve of the president's prosecutorial appointees. Craig Missakian is in the third month of his 120-day appointment as U.S. attorney for California's Northern District. Bondi appointed interim U.S. Attorney Eric Grant earlier this month 

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