Federal Judge Rules Sigal Chattah Unlawfully Served as Nevada’s U.S. Attorney

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Sigal Chattah, a Trump loyalist and appointee, has been unlawfully serving as Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada since late July.

U.S. District Judge David Campbell, appointed by former President George W. Bush, concluded that Chattah’s continued service after her 120-day interim appointment expired stemmed from a series of manipulative personnel moves that violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA).

“The FVRA is a carefully crafted assertion of Congress’s power under Article II, section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution,” Campbell wrote. “Its purpose would be defeated if the Executive Branch – the very branch Congress was trying to constrain – could choose whomever it wanted, whenever it wanted, and fill the vacancy simply by declaring that person to be first assistant.”

The ruling is the second time within two months that a federal court has struck down the Trump administration’s efforts to keep a hand-picked loyalist in power without Senate confirmation. In August, a judge in New Jersey ruled that Alina Habba had been illegally serving as U.S. Attorney there under a nearly identical scheme.

Campbell underscored that Congress never intended for the executive branch to reshuffle staff to extend control over top prosecutorial offices.

“Defendants’ motions are granted to the extent they seek disqualification of Ms. Chattah from supervising their criminal prosecutions,” Campbell added. “Ms. Chattah is disqualified from supervising these cases or any attorneys in the handling of these cases.”  

The decision comes the same day Reuters published an exclusive report showing that Chattah, while unlawfully in office, urged voter-fraud probes designed to help Republicans and sought to shield GOP operatives implicated in Nevada’s fake elector scheme. Actions that, taken together, underscore how Trump’s allies sought to weaponize federal prosecutors to advance partisan goals.

The court stopped short of dismissing the indictments against the defendants who brought the challenge, but disqualified Chattah and anyone under her supervision from further participation in the cases.

The ruling is expected to be appealed by the DOJ.