Hawaii judge assigned after Central District recusal in U.S. attorney dispute

Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has assigned a Hawaii judge to consider a defense motion to disqualify Acting U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli of Los Angeles after every judge in the Central District of California was recused from the case.

Central District Chief Judge Dolly M. Gee ordered all the judges in the Los Angeles-based district off the case "to avoid any appearance of bias or partiality."

Murguia then appointed Senior U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright of the District of Hawaii to serve temporarily as a Central District judge through year's end and to handle any 'unfinished business.' Gee transferred the case to him on Wednesday. U.S. v. Ramirez, 25-cr-00264 (C.D. Cal., filed Aug. 13, 2025).

Deputy Federal Public Defender James A. Flynn filed the motion on behalf of Jaime Ramirez, who is charged with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. The motion claimed that Essayli is unlawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney under a 1998 federal law that bars his continued service and alleging he became a private citizen in July.

"The Federal Vacancies Reform Act does not authorize Mr. Essayli's acting service, because among other problems he is statutorily ineligible," Flynn wrote in the Aug. 28 motion, adding that his ongoing presence as U.S. attorney also violates the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Flynn cited an August ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, who concluded that Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba of New Jersey, one of President Donald Trump's former personal attorneys who had remained in charge of the prosecutor's office after her interim term expired in July, was not lawfully in office.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that briefs in the Justice Department's appeal "must be tailored in scope to the District Court's disqualification ruling of August 21, 2025 - namely, whether Ms. Habba's continuing participation in these prosecutions is valid under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act or by virtue of her appointment as Special Attorney." U.S. v. Giraud Jr. et al., 25-2635 (3rd Circ., filed Aug. 25, 2025).

Flynn cited several other districts across the country in which the Trump administration has maneuvered to keep U.S. attorneys in office after their interim terms ended.

He asked a district judge to dismiss Ramirez's indictment, and the issue could raise questions about other indictments and convictions handled by Essayli as well.

Anne Joseph O'Connell, a Stanford Law School professor, said the cases involve several different statutes used by the executive branch to fill vacancies. "If upheld on appeal, I believe this ruling would upend common practice of acting officials under Democratic and Republican administrations," she wrote in an email.

The Central District case was originally assigned to U.S. District Judge Sunshine S. Sykes in Riverside but now will be handled by Seabright, an appointee of President George W. Bush.

While Trump nominated Habba for Senate confirmation as U.S. attorney in New Jersey, then pulled it, the president never nominated Essayli.

But like Habba, Essayli was appointed a special attorney and designated the first assistant U.S. attorney on July 29, allowing him to move into the vacant post once he resigned as interim U.S. attorney.

The question in both cases is whether those maneuvers, which Brann characterized as "a novel series of legal and personnel moves," are legal.

The Trump administration was able to keep its preferred U.S. attorneys in San Diego and San Francisco in office by asking judges in the Southern District and Northern District to appoint Adam Gordon and Craig H. Missakian, respectively.

That will allow Gordon and Missakian to remain until Trump nominates and the Senate confirms a U.S. attorney in those districts.

Judges in the District of New Jersey rejected Habba and picked another prosecutor, Desiree Leigh Grace, instead. But the Justice Department fired her.

Neither Gee nor the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles responded to calls or emails seeking comment about whether the Justice Department asked the Central District judges to appoint Essayli.