What happened

A federal judge on Tuesday disqualified acting California U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli from three Justice Department cases, ruling that he had been “unlawfully serving in that role” past a legal expiration date and without Senate confirmation. But U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright said Essayli could continue to serve as first assistant U.S. attorney, “effectively leaving him as the office’s top prosecutor,” said The Associated Press .

Who said what

Seabright’s ruling “represents another setback” for the White House’s effort to “extend handpicked acting U.S. attorneys beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law,” said the AP. Since August, other federal judges have disqualified Alina Habba in New Jersey and Sigal Chattah in Nevada, “though in both cases they stay

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