The top U.S. attorney in one of the largest districts in the country has been serving illegally since July, according to a federal judge.

The ruling marks the third time that a court has disqualified one of Donald Trump’s loyalists for a top prosecutor role, as the Department of Justice faces intense legal scrutiny over a series of maneuvers to keep the president’s allies in office to get around legal limits on how long they can stay there.

In his Tuesday order, District Judge J. Michael Seabright determined that Bill Essayli was unlawfully serving beyond a 120-day expiration date for a temporary position leading the U.S. attorney’s office in the Central District of California. He should have left his post as acting U.S. attorney for the district July 31, according to the judge.

But Seabright said Essayli could remain on the job with the title of “first assistant” U.S. attorney, allowing him to continue overseeing prosecutions if no one else is appointed to the role — which the judge acknowledged, in practical terms, wouldn’t change much in terms of who is leading the office in the most populous district in the nation.

“Nothing is changing,” Essayli wrote on X, declaring victory in the case. “I continue serving as the top federal prosecutor in the Central District of California.”

A judge has determined that Bill Essayli, a top federal prosecutor for a district serving Los Angeles, has been illegally serving since July. (REUTERS)

However, Seabright’s decision is the latest in a string of legal blows for the president’s loyalists who have held on to critical law enforcement roles through a complex set of bureaucratic maneuvers that have allowed them to evade a Senate confirmation process.

Judges have disqualified Trump’s personal attorney Alina Habba from serving as U.S. attorney in New Jersey as well as Sigal Chattah, Trump’s nominee for top prosecutor in Nevada. Both of those decisions have been temporarily frozen to allow the Justice Department time to appeal.

Trump’s acting U.S. attorney for New Mexico, Ryan Ellison, is also expected to face a similar legal challenge.

Attorneys for former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney General Letitia James are similarly calling on judges to throw out the politically charged criminal indictments against them by arguing that Lindsey Halligan — another one of Trump’s personal attorneys — is illegally serving as the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In April, attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Essayli to lead the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, covering an area with roughly 20 million people. By law, he was serving on an interim basis for up to 120 days. Without Senate confirmation by the end of that period, federal judges can then appoint their own acting prosecutor.

But Essayli was signaling that he didn’t have any plans to leave the office.

“We’ve got some tricks up our sleeves,” he told right-wing media personality Glenn Beck at the time.

Trump’s former personal attorneys Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan — now serving as temporary U.S. attorneys in New Jersey and Virginia, respectively — are also facing legal challenges over their appointments. (GETTY IMAGES)

Days before his deadline, Essayli resigned — only for Bondi to appoint him as the office’s No. 2 position, following a similar strategy the Trump administration deployed to keep other top prosecutors in office.

The administration has argued they could essentially inherit the top role of U.S. attorney on an acting basis because they were no longer serving in them.

Seabright, echoing other judges presiding over similar challenges, rejected that argument.

“Simply stated: Essayli unlawfully assumed the role of Acting United States attorney for the Central District of California,” Seabright concluded. “Essayli may not perform the functions and duties of the United States attorney … He is disqualified from serving in that role.”

But the cases brought by Essayli’s office while he was illegally serving won’t be dismissed, according to Seabright.

Those indictments were signed by other, legally appointed prosecutors, the judge determined.

But if that reasoning holds up in other cases, it could spell doom for the criminal cases against Comey and James, whose indictments were signed off by Halligan. She presented evidence to grand juries by herself to secure those indictments.

A judge is scheduled to hear arguments over attempts to disqualify Halligan from office November 13.

Source link


Attorneys and law firms can elevate their online presence with professionally written content from SEO Content Writing Services monthly plan. Our team of experienced writers specializes in crafting blog posts, articles, and written content that accurately reflect the expertise and knowledge of our clients in the legal field. With a keen eye for detail and a thorough understanding of legal terminology, we provide high-quality writing that helps our clients stand out from their competition and engage with their target audience. Trust SEO Content Writing Services for one time article writing or monthly written content to handle all of your written content needs and showcase your law firm's expertise.
If you need written content, blog posts, or articles professionally written for your website, we can help. Go HERE to find out more.
or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
To find out more about our article writing or blog post services, fill out the form, thank you.

Name *

First

Last

Business Name

Email *

What type of articles are you intertested in?

Submit

The post Another blow for Trump as judge disqualifies ‘unlawfully serving’ top prosecutor in Los Angeles appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Thursday, a federal judge sanctioned Chatham County District attorney Shalena Cook-Jones.In his 50-page decision, U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia wrote that Cook-Jones left the court “no choice.”All of this stemmed from a workplace discrimination lawsuit, filed by a former assistant district attorney at the Chatham County District attorney‘s Office, Skye Musson. Musson claimed she was denied a promotion because of her gender. She also claimed she was retaliated against.Musson named Chatham County, the Prosecuting attorney‘s Council of Georgia (PAC), and Shalena Cook Jones as defendants in her lawsuit.According to Baker’s filing, Musson claimed, “Cook Jones was integrally involved in the discrimination and retaliation against her.”Baker said twice the court extended its discovery deadlines to give Cook Jones time to fulfill basic discovery requests. He said despite those extensions, Cook Jones refused to provide a single date during which she could be deposed. The court ended up ordering Cook Jones’ deposition to take place after the deposition deadline on a date she selected, which was April 11, 2023.Shortly before that date, Baker said Cook Jones got involved in a rape trial. Baker wrote, “During the March 29 pretrial conference, Cook Jones did not mention to the Superior Court, or anyone involved in the trial, that she had committed to being deposed in this case on April 11.”Jury selection began on April 4 and the trial officially began on April 6.Baker wrote, “Cook Jones still did not mention to the Superior Court, or anyone involved , that this court had ordered her to appear for a deposition three business days later. By Friday, April 7, Cook Jones still had not rested the State’s case, and it was clear that the trial would last into the following week. Cook Jones still did not apprise the Superior Court or counsel of her court-ordered deposition.”According to Baker, Cook Jones did not make those in the rape trial aware of her April 11 deposition until the afternoon of April 10. He said when she informed those in the rape trial of her deposition, she told them it was scheduled from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., when it was actually happening at 10 a.m.Cook Jones said her assistant put the wrong time on her calendar.Baker wrote, “Cook Jones is an experienced attorney and a member of this courts bar. Any attorney would know that her deposition would last more than 2 hours, particularly given the allegations against her.” According to court documents, Cook Jones tried asking for her deposition to be delayed. She wrote in an email, “At the time my deposition was scheduled, I thought there would be someone else in place to try , but our incoming sexual assault prosecutor (who was scheduled to start in early April) will not arrive until April 17th. So, I had to step in.”Cook Jones’ request was denied. Regardless, she did not appear for her deposition April 11 since the rape trial was still ongoing.Baker wrote, “Cook Jones’ failure to even mention her self created conflict to this Court or the Superior Court, despite so many opportunities to do so, leaves the Court with the inescapable conclusion that she gave no regard whatsoever to her discovery responsibilities and this courts orders.”Baker said in his 50-page decision, “The only measures sufficient to remedy Cook Jones’ pattern of contemptuous disregard are striking her answers and ordering her to pay costs, fees and expenses.”WJCL 22 News has reached out to the District attorney‘s Office for comment. We have not heard back just yet.

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. —

Thursday, a federal judge sanctioned Chatham County District attorney Shalena Cook-Jones.

In his 50-page decision, U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia wrote that Cook-Jones left the court “no choice.”

All of this stemmed from a workplace discrimination lawsuit, filed by a former assistant district attorney at the Chatham County District attorney‘s Office, Skye Musson. Musson claimed she was denied a promotion because of her gender. She also claimed she was retaliated against.

Musson named Chatham County, the Prosecuting attorney‘s Council of Georgia (PAC), and Shalena Cook Jones as defendants in her lawsuit.

According to Baker’s filing, Musson claimed, “Cook Jones was integrally involved in the discrimination and retaliation against her.”

Baker said twice the court extended its discovery deadlines to give Cook Jones time to fulfill basic discovery requests. He said despite those extensions, Cook Jones refused to provide a single date during which she could be deposed.

The court ended up ordering Cook Jones’ deposition to take place after the deposition deadline on a date she selected, which was April 11, 2023.

Shortly before that date, Baker said Cook Jones got involved in a rape trial.

Baker wrote, “During the March 29 pretrial conference, Cook Jones did not mention to the Superior Court, or anyone involved in the trial, that she had committed to being deposed in this case on April 11.”

Jury selection began on April 4 and the trial officially began on April 6.

Baker wrote, “Cook Jones still did not mention to the Superior Court, or anyone involved [in the rape trial], that this court had ordered her to appear for a deposition three business days later. By Friday, April 7, Cook Jones still had not rested the State’s case, and it was clear that the trial would last into the following week. Cook Jones still did not apprise the Superior Court or [the defendant’s] counsel of her court-ordered deposition.”

According to Baker, Cook Jones did not make those in the rape trial aware of her April 11 deposition until the afternoon of April 10. He said when she informed those in the rape trial of her deposition, she told them it was scheduled from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., when it was actually happening at 10 a.m.

Cook Jones said her assistant put the wrong time on her calendar.

Baker wrote, “Cook Jones is an experienced attorney and a member of this courts bar. Any attorney would know that her deposition would last more than 2 hours, particularly given the allegations against her.”

According to court documents, Cook Jones tried asking for her deposition to be delayed. She wrote in an email, “At the time my deposition was scheduled, I thought there would be someone else in place to try [the rape suspect], but our incoming sexual assault prosecutor (who was scheduled to start in early April) will not arrive until April 17th. So, I had to step in.”

Cook Jones’ request was denied. Regardless, she did not appear for her deposition April 11 since the rape trial was still ongoing.

Baker wrote, “Cook Jones’ failure to even mention her self created conflict to this Court or the Superior Court, despite so many opportunities to do so, leaves the Court with the inescapable conclusion that she gave no regard whatsoever to her discovery responsibilities and this courts orders.”

Baker said in his 50-page decision, “The only measures sufficient to remedy Cook Jones’ pattern of contemptuous disregard are striking her answers and ordering her to pay [Musson’s] costs, fees and expenses.”

WJCL 22 News has reached out to the District attorney‘s Office for comment. We have not heard back just yet.

attorney-shalena-cook-jones/45691556″>Source link


Attorneys and law firms can elevate their online presence with professionally written content from SEO Content Writing Services monthly plan. Our team of experienced writers specializes in crafting blog posts, articles, and written content that accurately reflect the expertise and knowledge of our clients in the legal field. With a keen eye for detail and a thorough understanding of legal terminology, we provide high-quality writing that helps our clients stand out from their competition and engage with their target audience. Trust SEO Content Writing Services for one time article writing or monthly written content to handle all of your written content needs and showcase your law firm's expertise.
If you need written content, blog posts, or articles professionally written for your website, we can help. Go HERE to find out more.
or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
To find out more about our article writing or blog post services, fill out the form, thank you.

Name *

First

Last

Business Name

Email *

What type of articles are you intertested in?

Submit

The post Federal judge sanctions Chatham County District Attorney appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.