Trump administration is 'playing shadow games' with top SoCal prosecutor, public defenders say
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Set us as preferred The Los Angeles federal public defender’s office on Friday joined a renewed effort to oust Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Southern California, accusing the government of “playing shadow games with the most consequential powers a government can wield against its population.”Citing a recent order from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v.Jackson, the public defender’s office renewed a motion seeking to disqualify Essayli from participating in or supervising the prosecution of its client Jaime Ramirez.
The federal appellate court ruled last month that the Department of Justice cannot keep an official who has not been confirmed by the Senate in charge of a U.S.attorney’s office simply by giving that person a different title and the full powers of the job.In their motion filed Friday, James Anglin Flynn and Ayah A.
Sarsour, deputy federal public defenders, accused the government of asking them “to trust that there are some undisclosed limits on Essayli’s authority that render it valid.”“The buck should stop here, and it should stop now,” they wrote.Politics First Assistant U.S.
Atty.Bill Essayli is waging an unusual campaign to find election fraud in California despite DOJ guidelines saying not to during vote counting.The U.S.
attorney’s office in L.A.did not immediately respond to a request for comment.H.
Dean Steward, a defense attorney, first kicked off the renewed effort last week, filing a motion asking Senior U.S.District Judge J.
Michael Seabright to reconsider his prior ruling.Steward argued that Essayli should not be allowed to continue leading the office.Seabright previously disqualified Essayli as acting U.S.
attorney in October, finding he was “not lawfully serving” in the top role.But Seabright — who was appointed to the bench by Presid...