'Way outside his lane': Trump pick torched by ex-prosecutors over possible ethics breach

Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, mocked California Gov. Gavin Newsom as the “Fraud King” on social media. Former federal prosecutors said he crossed an ethical line.

Newsom accused the Justice Department of being “so desperate to invent ‘widespread voter fraud’” that it “sent California counties lists of people who NEVER voted.” Essayli, a Trump appointee and the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, fired back on social media.

“Hey Fraud King 👑,” Essayli wrote. “We’re not waiting for them to vote. You’re not allowed to have any noncitizens on your voter rolls. ‘Period. Full stop.’”

Barb McQuade, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said Essayli was out of bounds. She now teaches at the University of Michigan Law School and is a legal analyst for MSNOW.

“This US attorney is way outside his lane. The Constitution gives states the power to control elections,” McQuade wrote. “If he has evidence that a state is violating federal law, he can challenge it in court. Ethics laws forbid this kind of extra-judicial smear about a party in pending litigation.”

Elizabeth de la Vega, a former federal prosecutor who spent 21 years at the Justice Department and led its San Jose branch office, agreed.

“Also, his tone and demeanor are woefully unbecoming to his position,” de la Vega wrote. “He is a disgrace.”

National security journalist Marcy Wheeler, who runs the blog Emptywheel, took a shot at Essayli’s contested title. A federal judge previously ruled that he was unlawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney.

“Makebelieve @USAttyEssayli is now making up laws that don’t even exist,” Wheeler wrote. “Hell, given the precedent in FL, every one of these cases will be challenged on Constitutional grounds.”

Essayli, a former Republican state assemblyman, has repeatedly clashed with Newsom since taking over the Los Angeles office last year.