Chattah’s acting US attorney appointment challenged in federal court

The federal public defender’s office in Nevada is challenging acting U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah’s appointment, arguing that her term expired in July and that she has been doing her job since then without “force or effect.”

The office’s motion, filed Thursday, follows a federal judge’s Aug. 21 ruling that Chattah’s New Jersey counterpart, Alina Habba, was serving unlawfully and had not been properly appointed.

Habba and Chattah both went from interim U.S. attorney to acting U.S. attorney. Neither has been confirmed by the Senate, and Nevada Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto have publicly opposed Chattah, who has conceded that she was made acting U.S. attorney because the senators would not sign off on her nomination.

“In brief: the administration is attempting an unusual maneuver that contravenes the text of the statute and poses grave constitutional concerns,” the public defenders wrote. “Such efforts should be rejected.”

Chattah declined to comment Tuesday. Assistant Federal Public Defender Heidi Ojeda also declined to comment.

The federal public defenders said in the filing that they want federal judges to “exercise their authority to appoint a proper interim U.S. attorney.”

The attorneys also are asking the court to dismiss the indictment of Shamar Garcia, the defendant in whose case they filed the motion, or disqualify Chattah. Garcia was indicted July 30 on a count of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, according to court records.

President Donald Trump prolonged Chattah’s service by appointing her acting U.S. attorney the day before her term as interim was about to expire in late July, Chattah has said.

“But no statute authorizes the administration to extend her temporary appointment,” the public defenders wrote.

Chattah’s actions after July 26 — the day public defenders argue that her interim appointment ended — “have no force or effect,” the motion asserted.

Public defenders filed similar motions last week in the cases of Devonte Jackson, indicted in connection with an approximately $327,000 armored truck robbery, and Giann Salazar Del Real, who is accused of distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as possessing a firearm as an illegal immigrant.

The federal court system is moving quickly to address the filings, but delegating decision-making to an out-of-state judge.

Arizona-based Senior U.S. District Judge David Campbell is scheduled to hold a status conference in the three cases Thursday. Campbell wrote in a Tuesday order that he planned to “resolve these motions before the end of September.”

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Mary Murguia designated Campbell to hear the current motions and similar ones filed in other cases, according to the order.

“This motion would appear to have a realistic chance of being successful in light of what happened in New Jersey,” former Nevada U.S. attorney Greg Brower said.

After the Habba ruling, Chattah said she was not worried and did not think she and Habba were in a similar position.

In their Thursday motion, the public defenders warned about what they perceived as the consequences if the court did not take their side.

“If the Court concludes that Ms. Chattah’s ongoing service as acting U.S. Attorney complies with the governing statutes, it will be ratifying a vacancy scheme in which the Attorney General can designate never-confirmed individuals to serve as interim or acting U.S. Attorneys potentially in perpetuity,” they argued in the filing. “Such a regime is incompatible with the Appointments Clause, which requires Senate confirmation for all principal officers, including individuals serving in a permanent or lengthy temporary capacity as U.S. Attorneys.”

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.