Trump’s Chief Nevada Prosecutor Shirks DOJ Orders, Boosts Allies

President Donald Trump’s top Nevada prosecutor, Sigal Chattah, pushed to launch investigations at the behest of former clients and friends while repeatedly bypassing Justice Department orders recusing her from cases, according to three people with direct knowledge.

Chattah, a former Republican party official who took over the US attorney’s office in Nevada 14 months ago, also opened a probe targeting her past political foe, the three individuals said. It is one of many circumstances in which she’s leveraged her role to advance personal interests.

The first-time prosecutor frequently sought status updates on cases despite warnings that she was disregarding recusals signed by the deputy attorney general’s office in Washington that barred her involvement in matters where she had conflicts of interest, said several individuals.

Chattah also took calls from outside attorney acquaintances and intervened in their pending matters opposite her office—seeking favorable outcomes for their clients.

Chattah, a longtime Las Vegas lawyer, began leading the office after winning fans in Trump’s orbit due to her combative persona and lawsuits challenging Covid-19 restrictions. Her decisions departed from longstanding department policies and traditions, unsettling her staff, law enforcement partners, and defense attorneys, according to interviews with two dozen Nevada lawyers and former law enforcement officials.

“It’s charitable to call it chaos,” said Rick Pocker, who was Nevada US attorney under President George H. W. Bush, about Chattah’s leadership. “I don’t think she quite understands how you’re not supposed to use that office for personal or political purposes.”

Chattah is one of several Trump-aligned top federal prosecutors whose appointment as acting US attorney was deemed invalid by a judge, leaving her future in doubt. She remains in charge while the court order disqualifying her is pending appeal.

Unlike in other offices, the Nevada disruptions are frequently disconnected from Trump’s priorities and are instead largely of Chattah’s own making, added many lawyers familiar with the office—most of whom spoke anonymously to avoid retaliation or share sensitive deliberations.

At the same time, she’s echoed the president’s confrontational style by collecting research used in negative news coverage on a judge and pushing out line attorneys following clashes, according to multiple individuals. She publicly accused the state’s two US senators of public corruption without evidence.

Chattah also recently encouraged her entire legal staff to attend an event hosted by the conservative Federalist Society in an internal email reviewed by Bloomberg Law.

“It represents the worst of a small-town politician or mayor,” said Michael Green, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas history professor. “It has to be difficult for people in her office who argue these cases—even if they share her views. If I’m on the other side, I think, ‘Yeah, you’re hurting yourself. Go for it.’”

Chattah’s office didn’t make her available for an interview. In an emailed statement, DOJ spokeswoman Natalie Baldassarre, declined to address a list of questions submitted by Bloomberg Law.

“The District of Nevada has charged 15% more cases than the year prior with 20% fewer attorneys and will continue to move full speed ahead to advance President Trump’s agenda in federal court,” Baldassarre said in the statement.

Many of Chattah’s directives for the FBI to investigate tips from friends never led to probes, following resistance from the former Las Vegas FBI special agent in charge and from Chattah’s top deputy and criminal chief—who had a combined nearly half-century of DOJ experience.

However, the FBI leader’s firing and the recent retirements of Chattah’s two primary deputies have prompted concerns among former prosecutors that Chattah will escalate efforts to use the office for political purposes, such as by interfering in the midterm elections.

DOJ, meanwhile, has dismantled internal ethics safeguards, including removing senior Main Justice officials who would’ve previously counseled against her conduct, said law professors and former department officials.

Her actions, such as sidestepping recusals, “are the sorts of things that shouldn’t happen in an organization that actually cares about the rules,” said Benjamin Grimes, the former deputy director of DOJ’s Professional Responsibility Advisory Office. “In the past, the department had people with sufficient organizational cachet to make a difference.”

Partisan Record

Chattah, 51, arrived in April 2025 as interim US attorney, bringing a partisan record as an outspoken Trump supporter who’s often amplified false claims of election fraud. The Israeli-born Widener University law graduate has a history of social media posts filled with racially charged language and calls for violence towards political adversaries.

She was the Republican National Committee’s Nevada committeewoman from 2023 until last year, maintaining that title on the RNC website for more than three months into her DOJ service.

At an introductory office-wide meeting, Chattah declared she was going to make Nevada the “sexiest” place in the US to prosecute, a framing some career employees found off-putting.

Despite her lack of prosecution experience and minimal knowledge of her team’s docket, she quickly became involved in cases. She negotiated with criminal defense and plaintiff attorneys whom she’d befriended over two plus decades running her own small Las Vegas law practice, multiple people said.

In one instance, an assistant US attorney, R. Thomas Colonna, complained to a supervisor and the department’s ethics advisory office about Chattah’s outreach on a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Colonna was representing the federal government in a lawsuit by George Harris, Chattah’s former political consultant and donor on her 2022 campaign for state attorney general.

A week after he objected to the ethics office—citing Chattah’s conversation with the plaintiff Harris or his representative—Chattah moved to terminate him, according to a whistleblower retaliation complaint Colonna later withdrew in an agreement to resign voluntarily.

The removal proposal, a copy of which was reviewed by Bloomberg Law, cited conduct unbecoming, including “hostile communications and criticisms” within the workplace. Colonna had never been previously disciplined at the office and received “outstanding” performance reviews, documents showed.

His alleged experience wasn’t isolated.

“There has been a growing concern amongst civil and criminal AUSAs about USA Chattah’s interest in resolving cases in matters involving her associates,” wrote another line attorney in a declaration supporting Colonna sent under penalty of perjury to DOJ’s office overseeing US attorneys last year.

The lawyer then cited a meeting in which Chattah directed her to settle a Controlled Substances Act case “against the interests of the United States.” As justification, Chattah referenced her conversation with a friend who’d represented the veterinarian defendant, the lawyer said.

Chattah also repeatedly sought status updates from prosecutors investigating a Nevada Republican county commissioner with whom Chattah had a shared history, despite a DOJ recusal blocking her from engaging in the Covid-19 fraud matter, said three people familiar.

“Using the office for personal gain” would constitute a violation of the Nevada Supreme Court’s rule prohibiting attorney conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice, said David Clark, the former head of the Nevada state bar disciplinary office that enforces such rules.

Chattah’s actions are “certainly something that comes within” the office’s purview, he said.

However, criminal defense lawyer David Chesnoff, who’s grown close with Chattah over decades together in the Nevada bar, praised her communications with private lawyers.

“She’s a very outgoing person and it’s translated in her office where there’s a lot more discussion and back and forth to try to either resolve things or at least make things uncomplicated,” Chesnoff said.

Political Rival

One case stands out as perhaps most entangled with Chattah’s pre-government life.

Eighteen days into her term, Chattah publicized in a since-deleted YouTube video the start of an investigation into fiber optic company Uprise for allegedly misspending federal and state funding for a rural Nevada broadband project.

The ongoing probe of the company’s CEO is rooted in Chattah’s theory that the investigation will enable prosecutors to shame or potentially criminally charge Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), said two people briefed on the matter.

Ford, who defeated Chattah in a vitriolic 2022 campaign, is now the Democratic frontrunner in a tight race to unseat Nevada’s Republican governor.

During her 2022 attorney general candidacy, Chattah wrote in a leaked text message that Ford, who is Black, “should be hanging from a fucking crane.” Later at a Trump rally she falsely called Ford a “convicted criminal.”

Although it remains unclear if Chattah’s investigation has uncovered evidence linking Uprise to Ford, she said on X in February 2025 that the alleged theft of $9.1 million in taxpayer money was due to Ford’s “abysmal failure” at his job.

Ford’s office separately indicted the Uprise CEO last year on state charges.

Court Headwinds

A federal court invalidated Chattah’s appointment last year not for her own actions, but the procedure by which the Trump administration extended her 120-day interim term—changing her title to acting.

Consistent with similar rulings involving other Trump prosecutors, this occurred after Nevada’s district court declined to appoint her permanently, and its two US senators, both Democrats, blocked her consideration for confirmation.

In February, the same week that a Ninth Circuit appellate panel heard oral arguments in DOJ’s appeal of Chattah’s disqualification, the White House nominated seasoned Las Vegas attorney George Kelesis as her replacement.

Nearly four months since his nomination, Kelesis, whom Chattah said she personally recommended for the job, hasn’t submitted necessary paperwork for the Senate to consider confirming him.

Chattah has at times suggested to employees she plans on sticking around, whether Kelesis eventually arrives or not, several people said. If the Ninth Circuit upholds her disqualification, that may force DOJ to remove her.

The judge paused his order that she’d been illegally leading the office, but Chattah’s prosecutors assured the court and defense counsel that she would cease supervising cases while her disqualification was under appeal. She’s nonetheless remained involved, according to three of the people and a court filing.

In one instance, Chattah nixed an accused sex trafficker’s plea deal, court filings and interviews show. She cited as her reason the mounting criticism leveled at then-Attorney General Pam Bondi over DOJ’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, two people familiar with the move said.

As her interim term neared expiration last summer, Chattah tried endearing herself to federal judges. She invited the entire district court bench to a brown bag lunch at her office, to which all her attorneys were required to attend, said several people with direct knowledge.

When the judges didn’t vote to keep her, the tone shifted.

Chattah had staff collect examples of immigrants with violent records whom Las Vegas-based Judge Richard Boulware ordered released from detention, said three people. That research made its way to a journalist who published an article painting Boulware as a “judicial activist,” two of those individuals said.

‘Warrior Queen’

On par with DOJ as a whole, Chattah’s office has seen significant attrition. A staff of more than 100 typically is depleted to about two-thirds that level today, according to rough estimates from several former employees.

“Dead weight be gone,” she said of her staff turnover this week on X.

The Reno branch, which traditionally employed about 10 prosecutors and covers 13 of the state’s 17 counties, will soon have zero attorneys, as its final two members plan imminent exits, three individuals said.

In the wake of continued veteran departures, Chattah’s latest actions have only deepened concerns that the office is taking a more partisan pivot.

Chattah brought MAGA ally Mike Davis to Las Vegas to address her staff on May 13. Attendance to hear the informal Trump legal adviser speak was mandatory for all the office’s remaining lawyers, two people said.

“I hope that causes controversy and makes heads explode,” Davis told former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on a podcast two days before the appearance.

“Oh my god, she’s the best,” Bannon replied. “She’s the warrior queen out in Nevada.”