President Trump is doubling down on his fight over California’s elections, blasting a federal court for rejecting his administration’s effort to set aside roughly 20,000 ballots tied to suspected noncitizens while showering Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor with praise.
Trump weighed in Saturday in a Truth Social post after a series of legal setbacks for the Justice Department, calling First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli one of the best prosecutors ever and accusing the court of rejecting an effort to fix election fraud.
The president also vowed to continue his administration’s fight over election integrity in California, where the battle over disputed voter registrations has become a flashpoint just days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
In a lengthy social media post, Trump took aim at the judicial ruling and the Senate confirmation process that has complicated Essayli’s position, referring to the so-called blue-slip process as a “SCAM.”
Trump praised Essayli as “one of the best, EVER!” and claimed the prosecutor had uncovered a massive number of illegal votes, potentially reaching into the millions.
“So, in Los Angeles, our Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California (and various other titles which were forced upon us by the ridiculous Blue Slip SCAM where nobody can get confirmed without the Dumocrats’ approval — which is IMPOSSIBLE to get in that they are all Trump Deranged Lunatics!), Bill Essayli, has done a fantastic job,” Trump wrote.
“He is one of the best, EVER! He caught a massive number of Illegal Votes, 20,000, but potentially Hundreds of Thousands, and maybe even Millions, and the Court has just ruled against it.”
The president added that the decision reminded him of his unsuccessful legal challenges to the 2020 presidential election, claiming the Supreme Court had refused to hear a case because he lacked standing.
“We are going to continue our yearslong fight on Election Integrity,” Trump concluded.
The president’s comments came after the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected the Justice Department’s emergency effort to force California election officials to separate ballots associated with roughly 20,000 people the administration suspects may not be US citizens.
The 2-1 ruling upheld the lower court’s rejection of the request, with the appeals panel finding there was no practical way to identify and isolate the disputed ballots without potentially disrupting the entire election system.
The administration has argued that federal officials identified more than 20,000 likely noncitizens registered to vote in California and that their ballots should be held aside until their citizenship can be verified.
The Justice Department originally sued California after Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan declined to comply with the federal government’s demand to review the names within its requested timeframe.
US District Judge David O. Carter rejected the administration’s emergency request Wednesday, warning that separating the ballots could disrupt the election and disenfranchise eligible voters.
The appeals court’s decision marks another setback for Trump’s effort to intervene in California’s election administration ahead of Tuesday’s midterms. One judge dissented, arguing that California’s refusal to separate the ballots undermined federal efforts to prevent illegal voting.
Essayli has been a central figure in the administration’s confrontation with California over the disputed voter list.
Last week, he warned that potentially ineligible voters could already be casting ballots as election workers processed mail-in votes across the state.
“If you look at California’s own papers, they said they’ve already processed over 300,000 ballots just for LA County,” he told the California Post Saturday. “So this is going on as we speak.”
He also argued that every day the state continued processing ballots without verifying the disputed registrations put legitimate votes at risk.
“Every minute that goes by, American citizen votes are being diluted in the state of California,” Essayli said last week. “It’s an emergency, and we expect the courts to treat it as such.”
Trump’s public defense of Essayli comes as the prosecutor faces a separate legal fight over whether he can lawfully continue running the Central District of California‘s US attorney’s office.
Senior US District Judge J. Michael Seabright ruled Tuesday that Essayli was unlawfully serving as a de facto US attorney, finding that the Trump administration could not sidestep federal appointment requirements by giving him successive titles and delegating the powers of the top prosecutor.
The ruling bars Essayli from participating in or supervising two criminal prosecutions, although Seabright delayed the order while the government pursues a stay pending appeal. The judge also declined to dismiss the indictments in those cases.
Essayli was initially appointed acting US attorney last year. Before the 120-day limit expired, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed him first assistant US attorney, allowing him to remain in charge of the office without a Senate-confirmed replacement.
Essayli has vowed to fight the ruling, saying the issue will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.
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