Citing a recent federal appellate court ruling in Nevada, an attorney filed another motion Friday challenging Bill Essayli’s role as lead federal prosecutor in seven Southern and Central California counties.
Attorney Dean Steward on Friday filed a motion for reconsideration on a motion to dismiss charges against his client Tu Anh Tran and disqualify Essayli.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week upheld the disqualification of Sigal Chattah as the first assistant United States attorney for the District of Nevada by the district court in Las Vegas, Steward said.
Steward argued that the central question in the Las Vegas case was comparable to the issue the attorney raised in his case in Orange County. Steward has been arguing that the Trump administration is bypassing U.S. Senate confirmation of U.S. attorneys by appointing lead prosecutors with a new title of first assistant.
Steward included a chart with his motion showing Chattah and Essayli were appointed interim U.S. attorneys at the start of April 2025 with both resigning as interim U.S. attorneys at the end of July 2025 so they could be immediately designated as acting U.S. attorneys.
“Ms. Chattah and Mr. Essayli should be treated equally,” Steward wrote.
The federal appellate panel this week ruled that Chattah “could no longer act as U.S. attorney, regardless of label, as such actions violate” federal laws regarding vacancies.
“Under historical norms and statutes, Congress would use the power of `consent’ to review, investigate and approve U.S. attorney nominees,” Steward wrote. “Under the current administration, this process has been totally scrapped. In part, Congress itself is to blame. Partisan politics has crippled the ability of Congress to do much of anything.”
Consequently, the administration “has filled U.S. attorney positions across the country with loyalists of dubious ability to assume the duties of a U.S. attorney,” Steward argued. “Their mandate is to follow Trump administration priorities, not to seek justice and protect the community.”
Steward cited the Ninth Circuit ruling’s holding that the advise-and-consent process is to guard against appointing of “unfit characters” to federal office.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Steward filed a motion to dismiss the indictment of 49-year-old Tu Anh Tran, who is charged with possession of property stolen from interstate or foreign shipment.
The indictment alleges Tran and co-defendant Truc Doan possessed about 1,100 cartons of Skechers goods valued at $400,000, Harbor Freight brand merchandise worth about $98,000, Milwaukee Tools worth about $93,000, and Mercedes-Benz parts worth about $1.4 million.
Steward argued that Essayli, whose title is first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, has not been confirmed by the Senate as required to remain in office beyond a temporary appointment.
But U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright this month rejected the motion, siding with federal prosecutors.
Seabright pointed to earlier rulings that established Essayli was legally in office as the office’s lead prosecutor.
Essayli’s title as interim U.S. attorney for the Central District of California ended at the end of July last year. But on July 29, 2025, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Essayli as first assistant U.S. attorney, essentially allowing him to perform the same job with a different title.
Federal prosecutors argued in a July 8 response to Steward’s motion that a prior court ruling established Essayli is legally serving in the office, although not with the title of U.S. attorney for the Central District.
“Defendant offers no real argument as to why he thinks Mr. Essayli cannot be involved in (Tran’s) case as first assistant,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander P. Robbins argued.
Robbins accused Steward of “resorting to name-calling, conspiracy theories, and factual misstatements.”
Federal prosecutors conceded that Essayli “cannot serve or act as the U.S. attorney, and that there are duties only a U.S. attorney can perform and powers specific to the office. But defendant does not claim Mr. Essayli did any of these things.”
Robbins added that Essayli “can lawfully supervise this case” and the motion to dismiss should be denied.
Steward argued in a follow-up motion July 17 that the response “failed to address the key issue set out in the defense’s opening brief.”
Of the 93 U.S. attorneys in the country, more than 60 are in “acting” or “interim” roles, Steward argued.
“Two-thirds of the chief federal prosecutors in America have not been confirmed or reviewed by the Senate, including Mr. Essayli in this district,” Steward wrote. “The current administration’s scheme to avoid Senate confirmation is nothing but a naked violation of law for political purposes. This abuse of the federal system must stop.”