The Radical Reading Room

U.S. District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright ruled Tuesday, October 27, that Bill Essayli was unlawfully serving as a de facto U.S. attorney and could not participate in or supervise two federal prosecutions. The cases involve Jaime Hector Ramirez and Tu Anh Tran. Seabright found Essayli’s position violated federal law governing the filling of vacancies.

The dispute concerned a revised designation issued by Attorney General Todd Blanche. It allowed Essayli to perform certain functions and duties of the U.S. attorney’s office and transferred some of Blanche’s own powers to him. Seabright rejected the government’s argument that this arrangement made Essayli’s role lawful, concluding that he could not exercise the office’s prosecutorial authority through that designation.

Essayli was appointed interim U.S. attorney in 2025 by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. Seabright had previously ruled that Essayli could remain on the Ramirez and Tran cases as first assistant U.S. attorney. On Tuesday, the judge changed that determination, relying on a Nevada ruling that found a similar Bondi appointee’s selection invalid under federal law and said the appointee should not oversee prosecutions.

Essayli said he disagreed with the order and would seek a stay, with an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to follow. He argued that the president and attorney general have authority to choose supervisors within the Justice Department and said he expected the question to be decided by the high court. The reports describe his response as a plan to challenge the ruling; they do not report that a stay or appeal had been granted or resolved.