Chattah’s stint as Nevada’s interim U.S. Attorney expires next week. What’s next?

By Dana Gentry

Nevada Current

Republican partisan Sigal Chattah’s days at the helm of the Nevada U.S. Attorney’s office appear to be numbered, given President Donald Trump’s failure thus far to nominate Chattah to the permanent position.

Chattah, while serving as Nevada’s National Republican Committeewoman, became the state’s acting U.S. attorney on April 1, a position with a shelf life of 120 days. Her interim term as U.S. Attorney ends July 30 and Trump has yet to reveal his next move.

Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office did not respond when asked if the governor was aware of Trump’s plans.

Nevada’s U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen are vowing to attempt to derail Senate confirmation hearings for Chattah, should Trump appoint her.

“Sigal Chattah hasn’t been formally nominated for this position and the Administration has made no announcement of their long-term intentions after Ms. Chattah’s interim position is over next week,” a spokesperson for Cortez Masto said Wednesday. ”She is unfit for this role and if President Trump tries to install her for a four-year term, Cortez Masto will not return a blue slip and will strongly oppose her nomination.”

A “blue slip” is a blue form sent to senators of home-state judicial nominees by the Senate Judiciary Committee seeking approval or disapproval of a nominee. An unreturned slip can stall or end a nomination.

“If she’s ever nominated to a permanent Senate-confirmed position, I’ll do everything in my power to block her confirmation,” Rosen said in a statement, adding Chattah is “an extremist who is deeply unfit for this role.”

During her unsuccessful run in 2022 for Nevada attorney general, Chattah declared her Democratic opponent, incumbent Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Black man, “should be hanging from a f—king crane”; longed for fewer “pronoun badges” and transgender individuals in America, while describing them with an offensive slur; and invited comparisons with Sen. Joe McCarthy and former Pres. Donald Trump by calling for the imprisonment of political foes.

“Chattah’s disturbing past statements promising to use any public office to go after her political opponents, as well as her well-documented history of racist remarks, conspiracy theories, and threats of violence, prove that she cannot be trusted with this important responsibility,” Rosen said.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee, which appears unfazed by Trump’s strategy of allowing some interim terms to expire, advanced seven of Trump’s interim picks for U.S. Attorney. Chattah was not among them.

Trump’s picks for U.S. Attorney have resulted in widespread resignations in some states. The Times of San Diego reported Wednesday that as many as 10 federal prosecutors have quit under Interim U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, and other high-ranking lawyers have been demoted.

The expiration of Chattah’s term next week would trigger a provision of federal law that allows Federal District Court judges to either appoint her to an indefinite term, or make their own appointment.

Chattah did not respond to requests for comment.

When the term of New Jersey’s Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, Trump’s former personal attorney, expired this week, federal judges appointed another prosecutor to the office. However, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the employee, Desiree Leigh Grace, to prevent her ascension. Habba is the president’s former personal attorney. Grace, however, wrote on LinkedIn Wednesday that she will lead the office.

Courts in other states, including Texas, Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania have either appointed Trump’s interim picks to four-year terms or extended their terms, a move designed in some instances to avoid lengthy and contentious Senate confirmation hearings.

A spokesperson for the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas did not immediately respond to inquiries about whether judges there are taking up Chattah’s appointment.

Like Chattah, who was appointed April 1, a number of Trump’s interim appointees are facing the end of their terms and the possibility of being reappointed by the courts.

Federal judges in the Northern District of Illinois say they’ll decide by August 5 whether to appoint Trump’s interim pick for that seat, Andrew Boutros, to the permanent position.

Federal judges for the Northern District of New York declined to appoint Trump’s interim U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III, so the Justice Department found a workaround and appointed him to be special attorney to the U.S. attorney, a position that can keep him in place for seven months.

During her short term, Chattah has overseen a number of cases, almost all of which were initiated by her predecessor, Jason Frierson, a former Democratic legislative leader.

She returned forfeited funds to victims, including $531,308.46 fraudulently obtained via Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans; $1,068,123.94 to the Small Business Administration for fraudulently obtained PPP loans; and $32,193,787.94 to an undisclosed victim, according to her office.

Chattah also took part in a nationwide “Health Care Fraud Takedown,” which resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants nationwide, according to a news release.

The defendants in the two Nevada cases — a registered nurse who received $7.3 million in kickbacks for recommending and ordering unnecessary treatments, and a nurse practitioner who fraudulently billed Medicare for more than $14 million, according to a news release.

“Make no mistake — this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the news release.

Almost all of the cases cited in Trump’s crackdown were initiated during President Joe Biden’s term.

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Dana Gentry is a native Las Vegan and award-winning investigative journalist. She is a graduate of Bishop Gorman High School and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.