It seems that acting U.S. Attorney Bilal “Bill” Essayli couldn’t care less whether he was illegally appointed by President Donald Trump—or maybe he just didn’t read a judge’s order closely enough.
U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright ruled Tuesday night that Essayli had been “unlawfully serving” as the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California and was “disqualified” from serving in that role. Essayli was, however, properly appointed as a special attorney and could serve as “First Assistant United States Attorney.”
Essayli took to X soon after to assure his followers that everything would remain the same.
“For those who didn’t read the entire order, nothing is changing. I continue serving as the top federal prosecutor in the Central District of California. It’s an honor and privilege to serve President Trump and Attorney General Bondi, and I look forward to advancing their agenda for the American People,” he wrote on X, posting a screenshot of the judge’s order.
Incidentally, the excerpt he shared relayed that he was “never lawfully serving as Acting United States Attorney.”
Journalist Adam Klasfield pointed out the admission on X, adding: “If he’s claiming First Assistant US Attorney is the same thing (it isn’t), he shouldn’t mind identifying himself accurately.”
While the positions are functionally similar, some requests require the signature of the U.S. attorney specifically.
The Trump administration has attempted to stretch the 120-day limits on interim appointments to avoid embarrassing Senate confirmation votes. Trump’s appointments of Alina Habba in New Jersey and Lindsey Halligan in Virginia have both summoned legal challenges.
While illegally serving as acting U.S. Attorney, Essayli provided cover for the Trump administration’s federal law enforcement crackdown in Los Angeles, and pursued dozens of (mostly failed) cases against protesters opposing immigration raids earlier this year. Seabright declined to toss the cases Essayli had been prosecuting because they had been “lawfully signed by other attorneys,” and there was no evidence of due process violations.
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