Court Smacks Down Trump Prosecutor’s Nevada Appointment

Las Vegas Review-Journal / TNS A federal appeals court has thwarted a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor’s appointment after upholding a previous court’s ruling that she is not legally serving in her role.

Far-right MAGA loyalist Sigal Chattah, whom former Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed as Nevada’s acting U.S. attorney last year, was ruled to have been unlawfully appointed by the Justice Department in an order issued on Monday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The federal court’s opinion, delivered by Donald Trump-appointed Judge Eric D.

Miller, affirmed a district court’s order disqualifying Chattah from supervising the prosecutions of three Nevada defendants and invalidating her appointment as acting U.S. attorney.

Reached for comment, a DOJ official told the Daily Beast: “We disagree with the 9 th Circuit’s decision and we plan to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.” Chattah, a 2020 election denier, was named the interim U.S. attorney last April—an appointment limited to a term of 120 days, ending on July 30, 2025.

Chattah resigned a day before the term expired, announcing in her resignation letter that she “look[ed] forward to continuing to lead the U.S.

Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.” The same day as Chattah’s resignation, Bondi designated her as the first assistant to the now-vacant office, declaring that she would serve as the acting federal prosecutor in the wake of the vacancy.

The new appointment allowed her to remain in the role for an additional 210 days without Senate confirmation.

Nevada federal defense lawyers in three cases challenged Chattah’s appointment, arguing that her term had expired in July.

In September, U.S.

District Judge David Campbell sided with the defense attorneys and disqualified Chattah from supervising those prosecutions—a ruling the federal appeals court later affirmed.

“These cases present the question whether the Attorney General can make someone an Acting United States Attorney—bypassing the usual requirement that a U.S.

Attorney be confirmed by the Senate—by designating that person as the first assistant to an already-vacant office of U.S.

Attorney,” Miller wrote in the circuit court’s opinion.