A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Bilal A. Essayli has been serving unlawfully as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California and is disqualified from three prosecutions now before the court, according to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright found that Attorney General Pamela Bondi’s July 29 order did not lawfully place Essayli into the acting role once his 120-day interim term under 28 U.S.C. § 546 expired at the end of July. The court said Essayli’s service as “Acting” U.S. Attorney was not authorized by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which reserves acting designations beyond a first assistant to the President.
The ruling is about three cases: United States v. Ramirez, United States v. Garcia, and United States v. Rojas. In these cases, the defendants tried to get the charges thrown out and Essayli disqualified. The court granted disqualification but did not dismiss the indictments, stating that they were signed by assistant U.S. attorneys and are still legal.
The judge emphasized that Essayli still holds the position of First Assistant U.S. Attorney and may perform that job’s functions. The court also rejected broader requests to bar him from “all other prosecutions” in the district, finding defendants lacked standing to seek relief beyond their own cases.
The timeline shows that Essayli was named interim U.S. attorney on April 2, 2025, and his 120-day tenure ended on July 31. He quit the interim job on July 29, and after that, he was listed on charging documents as Acting U.S. Attorney.The court voided his appearance on two indictment signature blocks but left the cases intact. The order is dated Oct. 28, 2025.
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