By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -A federal prosecutor appointed by the Trump administration without Senate approval to serve as the “acting U.S. attorney” for California’s central district, which includes Los Angeles, was named to that role unlawfully, a U.S. district judge ruled on Tuesday.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright in Honolulu disqualifies Bilal Essayli from continuing to serve as acting U.S. attorney but leaves intact three criminal indictments brought during his tenure that were challenged by the defendants in those cases.

The decision came four weeks after another federal judge disqualified Nevada’s federal prosecutor, Sigal Chattah, from supervising four criminal cases, ruling that she was not validly serving as acting U.S. attorney.

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