Criminal defendants seeking to oust C say a federal judge failed to rule on their constitutional arguments.
Attorneys for criminal defendants facing weapons charges have filed for a second time to disqualify a Trump administration appointee as the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.
The new motion filed on Nov. 10 comes after U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright ruled on Oct. 28 that Bilal “Bill” Essayli was unlawfully installed as acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, but declined to dismiss indictments against three criminal defendants who asked for Essayli to be removed from his post.
Seabright also ruled that while Essayli was not entitled to serve as acting U.S. attorney, he may continue to supervise the federal prosecutor’s office because he was named first assistant U.S. attorney for the judicial district, and the U.S. attorney post is currently vacant.
The new motion by two of the criminal defendants—Ismael Garcia Jr. and Jaime Hector Ramirez—asks Seabright to reconsider his ruling, saying that the judge failed to rule on the defendants’ contention that Essayli was unconstitutionally appointed to his position. They argue that by installing Essayli, who has not been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the Trump administration is attempting to do an end-run around the Senate’s constitutional authority to review and confirm the appointment of senior government officials.
Garcia was indicted on Aug. 8 for being a felon in possession of ammunition and a machine gun. Ramirez was indicted on Aug. 13 for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The case goes back to April 2, when Essayli was sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed him on an interim basis the day before.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the appointment was carried out under Section 546 of Title 28 of the United States Code, which states that “the Attorney General may appoint a United States Attorney for the district in which the office of United States Attorney is vacant.”
The statute also provides that an interim U.S. attorney may not continue in that position after 120 days unless he has been confirmed by the Senate.
