On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, Bloomberg Law reported that a motion to disqualify Los Angeles’ acting US attorney, Bill Essayli, will be heard by a judge from Hawaii after all federal judges in the Central District of California were instructed to recuse themselves from the proceedings.

Chief Judge Dolly M. Gee issued the order on Monday, mandating the recusal of all judges within the US District Court for the Central District of California from hearing motions related to Essayli’s disqualification. The case has now been transferred to Senior District Judge J. Michael Seabright of the District of Hawaii. Judge Seabright was designated for this role by Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary Murguia.

The decision follows a period in July when judges did not act to formally appoint Essayli to an indefinite position. Essayli had resigned from his role as interim chief prosecutor before stepping into the acting post.

Since Essayli assumed leadership as the district’s chief law enforcement officer, numerous attorneys have reportedly left his office. Speaking anonymously to Bloomberg Law, many cited Essayli’s alleged disregard for Department of Justice (DOJ) rules as the reason for their departure. In July, Essayli’s office responded to these allegations, stating they were based on inaccurate and misleading information.

Federal public defenders filed a motion in August arguing that Essayli should be barred from participating in criminal prosecutions, contending that his appointment is part of a pattern of improper appointments to lead US attorneys’ offices. They drew parallels with the case of New Jersey’s acting top prosecutor, Alina Habba, who was deemed ineligible to serve in August by a Pennsylvania district judge.

Unlike the Habba case, where there was no district-wide recusal announcement, Chief Judge Michael Chagares of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit cited “the public interest” when moving her disqualification motion to Judge Matthew W. Brann of the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Judge Seabright, who will hear Essayli’s motion, was nominated by former President George W. Bush and assumed senior status last year.

 

 

Source: Bloomberg Law