A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that one of President Donald Trump's U.S. Attorneys is "unlawfully" serving in his role.
"As this Order explains in detail, Bilal A. Essayli is not lawfully serving as Acting United States Attorney for the Central District of California," U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright, who was appointed by George W. Bush, wrote in the opinion. "The Attorney General’s July 29, 2025, order did not function to put him in that role. And he has been unlawfully serving in that role since he resigned as Interim United States Attorney."
The judge issued the opinion after three criminal defendants filed separate lawsuits challenging the legality of Essayli serving in the U.S. Attorney's office for California's central district. Essayli assumed the role of interim U.S. Attorney in April. The interim label limits Essayli's service time to 120 days, which the defendants argued had expired.
The court denied the motion to dismiss motions cases brought by Essayli because "they were lawfully signed by other attorneys for the government and there has been no showing of due process violations or other irregularities in Defendants’ prosecutions resulting from Essayli’s unlawful service as Acting United States Attorney."
Kyle Chenny, senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, posted on X that the ruling "bodes poorly" for another Trump appointee serving in an interim role, Lindsay Halligan, because she was the only one to sign the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.