A federal judge ruled that Bill Assaly is not legally serving as the top U.S. Prosecutor in Los Angeles and disqualified him from overseeing two criminal prosecutions.
Posted by VINCE, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 93%
VINCEOct 28, 2026
Multiple tier-1 outlets (AP, Reuters, The Hill, CBS LA) report that U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright ruled on October 28, 2026 that Bill Essayli is unlawfully serving as the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and disqualified him from two criminal prosecutions.
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What was said
… He's like, "You're disqualified." A federal judge yesterday ruling that this is The Guardian with the report: ruling that Bill Assaly isn't legally serving in the role. Federal judges ruled that Republican Bill Assaly is not legally serving as the top U.S. Prosecutor in Los Angeles. Assaly was disqualified from overseeing two criminal prosecutions. The order, however, will not go into immediate effect. The Department of Justice said it intends to appeal. …
VINCE · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. AP reports that a federal judge ruled Tuesday that Republican Bill Essayli is not legally serving as the top U.S. prosecutor in Los Angeles, quoting Judge Seabright's 'de facto' United States Attorney finding.[1]
Supports. Reuters reports that Judge J. Michael Seabright disqualified the top Los Angeles federal prosecutor from a pair of criminal cases after finding he is unlawfully serving in violation of federal vacancy laws.[2]
Supports. The Hill and CBS LA report that Seabright disqualified Essayli from participating in or supervising the prosecutions in two cases, identified as those of Jaime Hector Ramirez and Tu Anh Tran.[3][4]
Context. The order is stayed pending a stay-pending-appeal ruling, so it has no immediate effect, and Essayli remains First Assistant U.S. Attorney. The claim's core assertions are not affected by this detail.[2][3]
Context. The name in the post and claim, 'Assaly', is a misspelling of 'Essayli' used throughout the sources; the post's other details (Republican, top Los Angeles prosecutor, Trump administration) match the same person.[1][3]
Sources
4 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 tier 1, 1 tier 2
- 1Judge rules Bill Essayli isn't legally serving as federal ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Judge says 'de facto' US attorney in Los Angeles serving unlawfullyreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 3Top federal prosecutor in LA not legally serving, judge rulesthehill.com · tier 1 · cited for: supports, context
- 4Judge rules that Essayli has been "unlawfully" serving as LA ...cbsnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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