Law360: Calif. Sens. Slam Trump’s US Atty ‘Hijacking’ To Keep LA Ally
By Lauren Berg
California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff issued a statement Wednesday condemning the Trump administration’s decision to “circumvent the law” and appoint Bill Essayli as acting U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, in a move echoing the recent appointment of Alina Habba as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey.
The former California State Assembly member in April was sworn in as interim U.S. attorney for the Central District of California — a temporary position with a 120-day term — but after Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee declined to extend Essayli’s tenure, President Donald Trump circumvented the Senate confirmation process to install him as the acting U.S. attorney, according to the Democrats’ statement.
“The Trump administration is again hijacking the U.S. attorney appointment process in order to keep Bill Essayli in power without Senate confirmation votes,” Padilla and Schiff said. “One look at Essayli’s record shows you why President Trump is worried about formally nominating him and, instead, is choosing to circumvent the law and the Senate’s power of advice and consent.”
The senators accused Essayli of using his time as interim U.S. attorney as an “audition tape” for Trump by holding partisan press conferences, pursuing unsubstantiated charges and investigations lacking in evidence and going after the president’s perceived enemies, according to the statement.
“Essayli is uniquely unqualified to serve as U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, and Trump’s egregious power grab shows you this administration knows it,” Padilla and Schiff said.
As of Wednesday, Essayli had changed his title on X to “Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli,” but has not otherwise publicly addressed his role change.
A representative for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California declined to comment Wednesday. The White House deferred to the Justice Department.
Essayli’s installation as acting U.S. attorney echoes the administration’s move last week to keep Habba in the role of U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, after the federal district court declined to extend her tenure in the interim position.
In the span of a single day, Habba was ousted from her role as interim U.S. attorney by standing court order and replaced by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Desiree Grace, only to have U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi remove Grace from her new role.
In a short post on X that was shared by Bondi, Habba on July 24 announced she is “now the Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.”
“I don’t cower to pressure. I don’t answer to politics,” she wrote. “This a fight for justice. And I’m all in.”
When he was tapped for the interim role in April, Essayli filled a vacancy created in mid-January by the resignation of the district’s previous U.S. attorney, Martin Estrada, who returned to private practice and joined Munger Tolles & Olson LLP.
Essayli was elected to his second term in the state assembly in November. He was also a founding partner of Essayli & Brown LLP, a law firm based in Newport Beach, California.
Previously, Essayli served for over three years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the office he now leads. He also previously served as a deputy district attorney in the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. Before that, Essayli practiced for more than a year at Paul Hastings LLP, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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