US attorney drops high-profile cases as DOJ extends tenure without Senate confirmation

U.S. Attorney Bilal A. "Bill" Essayli of Los Angeles moved to drop three cases in the hours leading up to a much-debated move by the U.S. Department of Justice to keep him in office without going through a formal Senate nomination process.

Shortly before the end of day Tuesday, Essayli filed papers to dismiss two indictments against Fatburger founder Andrew Wiederhorn - one for tax evasion and a second one for gun possession. U.S. v. Wiederhorn, 24-cv-00296 (C.D. Cal., filed May 9, 2024).

Those charges had appeared on life support since March when the prosecutor -- Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam P. Schleifer -- was fired following a social media campaign against him by a far-right activist who was angry about his past criticism of President Donald Trump.

Around the same time Tuesday, Essayli filed papers to dismiss an indictment against a former Los Angeles County deputy sheriff who was videotaped brutalizing a woman suspected of shoplifting in Lancaster. U.S. v. Kirk, 24-cr-00527 (C.D. Cal., filed Sept. 4, 2024).

That decision was more puzzling because Essayli had already negotiated a plea agreement with former deputy Trevor James Kirk, and Kirk has been sentenced to four months behind bars.

The motions to dismiss the indictments did not shed any light on Essayli's decisions and Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office, declined to comment.

"The U.S. attorney has the discretion to file such a motion and he elected to do so and we obviously supported that decision," Anaheim Hills defense attorney Tom Yu said.

Asked why he thought the U.S. attorney did it now, he responded: "I don't want to speculate."

But the motions were filed just before Essayli's 120-day term as an interim U.S. attorney - appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi was set to expire. Under normal procedures, the judges of the Central District would have the power to appoint him for another term.

But Bondi intervened under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and named Essayli acting U.S. attorney for at least 210 days - and unusual process that Democrats called unfair.

Bondi has taken similar actions to keep her choices in control of U.S. attorney's offices in New York, New Jersey and Nevada even when, in New Jersey, judges appointed someone else.

California's senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, normally would have a say in whoever President Trump nominates for the job. They issued a joint statement Wednesday decrying the maneuver to give Essayli more time on the job without a Senate confirmation process.

"One look at Essayli's record shows you why President Trump is worried about formally nominating him and, instead, is choosing to circumvent the law and the Senate's power of advice and consent," the senators wrote.

"Bill Essayli has used his time as Interim United States Attorney not to serve the people of the Central District of California, but as an audition tape for Donald Trump, complete with partisan press conferences, unsubstantiated charges, investigations so lacking in evidentiary basis that grand juries have reportedly refused to indict, and overt political acts to go after the President's perceived enemies," they added.

Judges in the Southern District of California appointed the interim U.S. attorney in San Diego, Adam Gordon, to the job on a permanent basis after the Justice Department asked Chief Judge Cynthia A. Bashant to do so, the judge confirmed.

Neither the Justice Department nor Central District Chief Judge Dolly M. Gee could be reached for comment about whether the Trump administration asked Gee to appoint Essayli or whether the judges considered doing so before his term as interim U.S. attorney expired.

Nicola T. Hanna, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and the U.S. attorney for the Central District during the first Trump administration, represents Wiederhorn. He could not be reached for comment.

Michael J. Proctor of Iversen Proctor LLP represented Rebecca Hershinger, a co-defendant in Wiederhorn's tax case, responded with a statement: "From day one, we have said Rebecca Hershinger was innocent--as well as a good and decent person. We are grateful that the government has acknowledged the case should be dismissed," it read.

The case accused the former Fat Brands Inc. CEO of concealing millions in income to evade federal taxes. Wiederhorn has given roughly $40,000 to Republican causes since 2023.

The case was thrown into disarray in March after Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has championed purges of what she calls "anti-Trump holdovers," began calling for Schleifer's ouster because of anti-Trump statements he made when he ran for Congress in 2020 as a Democrat from New York.

Kirk had been convicted in February for violating a woman's civil rights during a shoplifting investigation, where he forcefully subdued and pepper-sprayed her.

Although the jury found him guilty of using excessive force, a judge later agreed to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor, under a rare post-conviction plea agreement offered by Essayli, sentencing Kirk to four months in jail.