Ruling disqualifying Sigal Chattah as Nevada's US attorney affirmed by appeals court

Ricardo Torres-Cortez, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Aug 17, 2026

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LAS VEGAS — A federal appellate court on Monday affirmed a lower-court ruling that had disqualified Sigal Chattah from serving as Nevada’s top federal prosecutor.

The decision — which the Department of Justice said it plans to take to the U.S. Supreme Court — was outlined in a 36-page ruling by a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that heard arguments earlier this year.

At the time, Chattah was allowed to remain in the position while the panel deliberated the case.

Appointed by the Trump administration in April 2025, Chattah’s 120-day tenure as an interim U.S. attorney was slated to run through July that year.

Days before the deadline, Chattah resigned before promptly being reappointed as the head of the office, but this time under a different title.

The designation that extended her tenure was challenged by federal public defenders who represented three defendants who’d been indicted by the office.

The challenge was heard by a U.S. District Court who disqualified Chattah.

“The panel affirmed the district court’s order disqualifying Sigal Chattah, the putative Acting United States Attorney for the District of Nevada, from supervising the prosecutions of the defendants in three cases; and dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction defendants’ cross-appeals from the district court’s denial of their motions to dismiss their indictments,” Monday’s ruling said.

Chattah’s office declined to comment.

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