LAWYERS TARGET TRUMP OFFICIAL

L.A. public defenders say Bill Essayli’s role as acting U.S. attorney circumvented rules.

- BY BRITTNY MEJIA

CHRISTINA HOUSE Los Angeles Times

AFTER Bill Essayli's term as interim U.S. attorney expired, the White House shifted his title to "acting."

A federal judge heard arguments to decide whether maneuvers used by the Trump administration to install Bill Essayli as acting United States attorney in Los Angeles are improper — and, if so, what should be done about it.

During a Tuesday hearing in downtown L.A., Senior Judge J. Michael Seabright — who flew in from Hawaii for the occasion — wondered how to proceed after defense attorneys sought to dismiss indictments against three clients and to disqualify Essayli “from participating in criminal prosecutions in this district.”

Essayli, a former Riverside County assemblyman, was appointed as the region's interim top federal prosecutor by U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi in April.

His term was to expire in late July unless he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate or a panel of federal judges. But the White House never moved to nominate him to a permanent role, instead opting to use an unprecedented legal maneuver to shift his title to “acting,” extending his term for an additional nine months without any confirmation process.

Seabright was selected from the District of Hawaii after L.A.’s federal judges recused themselves from the proceedings. He questioned the consequences of dismissing any charges over Essayli’s title.

“If I did this for your client, I'll have to do it for every single defendant who was indicted when Mr. Essayli was acting under the rubric of acting U.S. attorney, correct?” Seabright said to a deputy federal public defender.