White House ordered firing of L.A. federal prosecutor on ex-Fatburger CEO case, sources say

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White House ordered firing of L.A. federal prosecutor on ex-Fatburger CEO case, sources say


The Department of Justice in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein / Associated Press)

By Brittny Mejia, James Queally, Matt Hamilton and Matthew Ormseth
March 29, 2025 6:24 PM PT

A federal prosecutor in Los Angeles was fired Friday at the behest of the White House, after lawyers for a fast-food executive he was prosecuting pushed officials in Washington to drop all charges against him, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Adam Schleifer was terminated Friday morning, receiving an email informing him that the dismissal was “on behalf of President Donald J. Trump,” according to two of the sources, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals from federal officials. Joseph T. McNally, the acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California who is Schleifer’s boss, was not involved in the decision, the sources said.

Carley Palmer, a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles who is now a partner at Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg LLP, said Schleifer was fired via a “one line e-mail, and it came from a White House staff account.” … A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles declined to comment. Schleifer declined a request to be interviewed. The White House and the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to inquiries.

The sources who spoke to The Times suspected the firing was motivated, in part, by a case Schleifer was assigned involving Andrew Wiederhorn, former chief executive of the company that owns fast-food chains Fatburger and Johnny Rockets.

{snip}

Hat tip, Ken White

Domestic Enemy Hat
‪@kenwhite.bsky.social‬

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I know Adam Schleifer, the AUSA fired. He’s what you’d want a federal prosecutor to be: smart, competent, tough, ethical. He did a very fair and ethical thing towards one of my clients that not every AUSA would have done. If he was prosecuting a case I suspect it was a righteous case.

March 29, 2025 at 9:59 PM

I know Adam Schleifer, the AUSA fired. He’s what you’d want a federal prosecutor to be: smart, competent, tough, ethical. He did a very fair and ethical thing towards one of my clients that not every AUSA would have done. If he was prosecuting a case I suspect it was a righteous case.

— Other People Want Pierogis Hat (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T01:59:38.207Z

Matt Pearce
‪@mattdpearce.com‬

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Sources: White House ordered firing of L.A. federal prosecutor on ex-Fatburger CEO case

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-03-29/los-angeles-federal-prosecutor-fired

Sources: White House ordered firing of L.A. federal prosecutor on ex-Fatburger CEO case
Adam Schleifer, a longtime financial fraud prosecutor, was dismissed from the U.S. Attorney's office in L.A. on Friday. He was pursuing charges against the former CEO of Fatburger, a Trump supporter, ...

www.latimes.com

March 29, 2025 at 9:33 PM

Sources: White House ordered firing of L.A. federal prosecutor on ex-Fatburger CEO case

www.latimes.com/california/s...

— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce.com) 2025-03-30T01:33:51.472Z

rosa dentata
‪@baymama.bsky.social‬

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If Trump is directly firing prosecutors now this is very, very bad.
March 29, 2025 at 9:52 PM

If Trump is directly firing prosecutors now this is very, very bad.

— rosa dentata (@baymama.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T01:52:02.935Z

Chad Hayes
‪@schadhayes.bsky.social‬

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this is very, very bad.
March 30, 2025 at 12:06 AM