The Trump administration will extend the term of embattled interim Los Angeles US Attorney Bill Essayli, after district court judges opted against exercising their authority to appoint him indefinitely, a DOJ spokesperson said.
When his 120-day interim term ends Wednesday, Essayli will receive a new “acting” appointment, the spokesperson said. Later Tuesday, Essayli’s top deputy messaged the office to inform employees that his acting title should be reflected in court pleadings starting later that day, according to an email reviewed by Bloomberg Law.
The appointment follows the same playbook the administration also used Tuesday for Nevada’s top prosecutor—a maneuver under the Vacancies Reform Act to keep the appointee for 210 days.
Essayli, who’s experiencing an exodus of prosecutors who say he’s been ordering them to pursue cases that aren’t supported by evidence, will first resign as interim chief prosecutor before assuming the acting post, the spokeperson added.
It’s the fourth time this month the executive branch has moved to retain a controversial chief prosecutor without the judiciary’s approval, a pattern that’s raising thorny legal questions about whether such power rests with the executive branch or the courts for non-Senate confirmed picks.
District judges have almost always given permanent appointments when interim US attorneys reach the end of their terms.
But the judiciary has been breaking from that tradition lately by not signing off on Trump appointees who have been accused of prioritizing allegiance to the president.
It’s unclear what issues, if any, caused the US District Court for the Central District of California to not appoint Essayli.
Chief Judge Dolly Gee didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment and the court’s website hasn’t posted a statement about the matter.
The decision is likely to roil a Los Angeles-based office that Bloomberg Law reported Tuesday has already endured internal opposition to Essayli’s leadership that’s left vacancies for about one-third of its legal staff. Many former prosecutors in the Central District of California, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, said that Essayli’s disregard toward DOJ rules is why they left.
The top deputy, Jennifer Waier, also told staff that her title will change from first assistant to chief assistant. She signed off the brief note with, “Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the Office.”
Fox News and the Los Angeles Times reported on Essayli’s “acting” appointment earlier Tuesday.
About an hour before the new appointment was to take effect Tuesday, Essayli’s office started filing reversals in controversial cases. That included motions to dismiss corporate fraud charges against Andrew Wiederhorn, a Trump donor who is founder and chairman of restaurant franchisor FAT Brands and to drop an indictment of a man charged for distributing face shields to anti-deportation protesters in Los Angeles.
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