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Newsom foe picked by Trump for key prosecutor job vows to 'dismantle' sanctuary state shields

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Newsom foe picked by Trump for key prosecutor job vows to 'dismantle' sanctuary state shields

Republican California Assemblyman Bill Essayli is pledging to “dismantle” his state’s status as a popular sanctuary for illegal immigrants after President Donald Trump tapped him this week to head up a team of prosecutors for the nation’s largest federal district court by population.

“I’m excited to get to work and to implement their vision and their mission for the Department of Justice,” Essayli told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. “I think the first order of business is reassuring people and reinstilling trust into the Justice Department. I think for the last few years, it’s been weaponized, has been politicized, and the President’s made it clear that we’re going to restore trust into our law enforcement agencies and into the Department of Justice.”

Essayli, a lightning rod in California legislative politics who frequently spars with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, said his commitment is to “restore law and order” in his new post as U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. “We’re going to get back to work,” he said. “We’re going to go after these transnational organizations, which the president designated as terrorist organizations.”

CALIFORNIA DEM COMPARES ‘SAVE GIRLS SPORTS’ LAW TO NAZI GERMANY, AS TWO TRANS ATHLETE BAN BILLS FAIL TO PASS

Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli was named by President Donald Trump to be the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. (Getty Images)

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“We’re going to go after criminal illegal immigration,” Essayli continued. 

Setting himself up for a potential showdown in the coming months with Newsom, who “Trump-proofed” the state with a $50 million legal fund to protect illegal immigrants in the state, Essayli vowed to “dismantle the sanctuary state status that they’ve enjoyed here in California.”

Brandon Richards, a spokesman for Newsom’s office, told Fox News Digital in a previous statement that “none of this funding will be used to support immigration-related services for criminals. Period.”

Additionally, Essayli said as U.S. attorney, his office will tackle public corruption, noting, “I don’t think we’ve had robust public corruption cases and investigations. It’s long overdue.”

When asked if Newsom had reached out to him since his appointment, Essayli laughed.

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NEWSOM’S ‘UNFAIR’ REMARK ON GIRLS’ SPORTS BELIES RECORD AS GOVERNOR: ‘ABSOLUTE BULLS—‘

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, has often mixed it up with Bill Essayli, President Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney for the district court that includes Los Angeles County. (Pool)

“No,” he said. “We don’t talk.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.

Essayli has gone head-to-head with Newsom’s administration throughout his Republican career in the state, criticizing the state over its handling of wildfire management, public safety, reparations and, most notably, parental rights in schools. It was not uncommon in the last several years to see Essayli at school board meetings voicing his opposition to policies that prohibited parental notification of their child’s gender identity.

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When asked how he would go about removing sanctuary state protections for illegal immigrants, Essayli responded he will be working “hand in hand” with the Trump Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi. 

“We’re gonna put a plan together,” he said. “That’s not something I’m obviously prepared to discuss or signal at this point, but I assure you that something will be done, and when we do, it will be very well known in public.”

MAINE UNIVERSITIES AGREE TO KEEP TRANSGENDER ATHLETES OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS AFTER TRUMP ADMIN PAUSES FUNDING

California Assemblymember Bill Essayli, along with fellow lawmakers, honor women in California making an impact during Women’s History Month in Sacramento, California, on March 20, 2023. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Just hours before his appointment to be the next top federal prosecutor in the district that includes Los Angeles County, Essayli introduced Assembly Bill 844, which sought to reverse California’s existing law that allows biological males to participate in girls’ and women’s sports teams corresponding to their gender identity. But the Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism rejected AB 844 along party lines on Tuesday.

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Essayli called the tolerance of trans girls in girls’ sports “not just bad policy, it’s also a flagrant violation of Title IX and puts California schools at risk of losing billions in federal funding,” during the committee hearing. “I believe California will come into compliance with Title IX, either through this legislative process or the court process.”

He resigned from his post as assemblyman that evening to accept the federal position. 

Assemblymember Bill Essayli speaks “about the preferential treatment biological boys are receiving” and calls for the resignation of Riverside Unified Superintendent Renee Hill during community comments discussing the issue of transgender athletes competing in girls’ high school sports at the Riverside Unified School District meeting on Dec. 19, 2024. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

In a news release, the U.S. attorney’s office said Essayli, born to two Lebanese immigrants, was sworn into the country’s largest attorney’s office outside of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning. The office, with over 250 lawyers on staff, serves roughly 20 million residents across the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

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Essayli previously founded the law firm Essayli & Brown LLP in 2019 and worked as a federal prosecutor from 2014 to 2018 in the Los Angeles and Riverside offices. During his time as an assistant U.S. attorney, Essayli handled high-profile cases, including the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack and a significant opioid prescription case. Prior to his federal role, he was a deputy district attorney in Riverside County and worked as an associate attorney at Paul Hastings LLP.

Essayli’s nomination to U.S. attorney requires Senate confirmation, but the president has the authority to appoint someone to the position on an interim basis before Senate confirmation.

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Washington

The Washington Capitals Select Oliver Suvanto | Washington Capitals

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The Washington Capitals Select Oliver Suvanto | Washington Capitals


WashingtonCaps.com is the official Web site of the Washington Capitals. Washington Capitals and WashingtonCaps.com, WashingtonCapitals.com are trademarks of Lincoln Hockey. NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2020 Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved. NHL, the NHL Shield and the word mark NHL Winter Classic are registered trademarks and the NHL Winter Classic logo is a trademark of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams. © NHL 2026. All Rights Reserved.



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Wyoming

At 6,000-year-old crossing, Gov. Gordon OKs Wyoming’s first-ever designated pronghorn migration route – WyoFile

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At 6,000-year-old crossing, Gov. Gordon OKs Wyoming’s first-ever designated pronghorn migration route – WyoFile


SUBLETTE COUNTY—Gov. Mark Gordon heralded Wyoming’s first-ever designation to protect a pronghorn migration corridor — a more than 2 million-acre web of habitat — at Trapper’s Point, which he called a “wonderful passageway.” 

“How incredibly valuable it is that you are standing here today,” Gordon told the crowd, “to witness this remarkable moment.”

Gordon commemorated the moment with his feet planted on the narrow bulge of high country that splits the Green and New Fork rivers. Thousands of years ago, the site was a well-used hunting ground for Native Americans — it’s the earliest known killing and processing site for pronghorn in North America. Now it boasts a wildlife overpass.

Several dozen western Wyoming residents came to Trapper’s Point for a June 26, 2026 celebration of the designation of the Sublette Pronghorn Herd’s 150-mile-long migration corridor. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

No pronghorn were to be seen during the especially windy Friday afternoon gathering, which attracted 75 attendees from nearby Pinedale and other western Wyoming communities. 

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Now Trapper’s Point is officially classified as a “bottleneck” for the Sublette Pronghorn Herd — one of 13 such bottlenecks. That classification is supposed to prevent any surface-disturbing activity, with the intent that pronghorn can keep passing through Trapper’s Point for generations to come. 

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce listen to remarks from Trapper’s Point at a June 26, 2026 celebration commemorating the designation of the Sublette Pronghorn Herd’s 150-mile-long migration corridor. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

Protecting the ability of the fleet-footed, tawny-and-white ungulates to migrate is a “key factor” in sustaining their population, Wyoming Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce said. 

“This becomes even more important in severe winters or extreme droughts,” Bruce said. “Pronghorn are long overdue for recognition.” 

Pronghorn in Sublette, Teton, Sweetwater and Lincoln counties travel a long road — some migrate more than 200 miles to escape harsh winters, trekking south into the lower Green River Basin, a semi-arid sweep of sagebrush steppe between Pinedale and Rock Springs. Then in the spring, they retrace those paths, returning to summer ranges, lush with verdant vegetation, even going as far as Grand Teton National Park.

There was also a long road of bureaucracy to get to this point. 

Nearly three decades of effort preceded the formal designation of the migration routes used by the Sublette Pronghorn Herd, which is the farthest-traveling and among the largest pronghorn herds in the West. 

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Jackson Hole biologists long knew that the valley’s pronghorn left in the winter. But details were hazy on where they went and how they got there until around the turn of the century. Using data from tracking collars, biologists like Joel Berger, Steve Cain, Hall Sawyer and Doug Brimeyer helped delineate the route. 

Wyoming ecologist Hall Sawyer fits a tracking collar onto a migratory pronghorn near the Tetons in 1998. Twenty-seven years later, state wildlife managers are pressing to designate the pronghorn herd’s migration path. (Mark Gocke/Wyoming Game and Fish Department)

In 2008, a Bridger-Teton National Forest plan amendment established a portion of the path as the nation’s first designated wildlife migration corridor. 

Popularized by its branding as the “Path of the Pronghorn,” the route has received press in national publications like High Country News and the New York Times. 

But the southern reaches of the migration through the energy-rich Green River Basin have faced major political opposition since the early 2000s. Wyoming first attempted to protect those travel corridors in 2019, under a policy administered by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. That effort was halted after a coalition of industry trade groups and counties protested. 

Then, in early 2020, Gordon revamped the migration policy with an executive order. Still, the Sublette Pronghorn Herd proposal gathered dust, even as development threatened the route. 

Game and Fish revived efforts to protect the migration in late 2023 and early 2024. Biologists pulled together one of North America’s most comprehensive migration datasets, benefiting from approximately two decades of GPS collar information collected from more than 400 pronghorn. 

Some controversy followed the process until near the end. There was a debate about whether to designate the migration’s two easternmost segments, in the Red Desert and east of Farson. The Game and Fish Department proposed excluding the routes, but was overridden by its commission. Then Gordon upended that decision, excluding the two segments. 

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Vetting the migration corridor through a Gordon-appointed working group was the second-to-last step in the designation process. 

“Today’s designation demonstrates that voluntary, locally driven conservation works,” said Robb Slaughter, who chaired the group, during the commemoration at Trapper’s Point. 

Time will tell if that’s the case. Wyoming’s migration policy is, by design, permissive of development. Private land is exempt from protections, and designation is not an assurance that new stressors won’t be added to the landscape.

Sweetwater County resident Robb Slaughter, who chaired a working group that vetted the Sublette Pronghorn Migration Corridor, gives remarks at a June 26, 2026 event celebrating the designation of the 150-mile-long route. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

“Today is not the end of the process,” Slaughter said. “It’s the beginning of the next chapter. Continued monitoring, adaptive management, research, and cooperation will ensure these recommendations remain effective as conditions change.” 

But Friday was the end of the migration designation process. The governor’s informal OK — no signature was needed — was the last step, said Sara DiRienzo, the governor’s deputy policy advisor. 

Wildlife advocates celebrated the moment. 

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“This is historical,” Bruce said. It’s the first effort to protect the full length of a pronghorn migration corridor in the nation, she said.





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Newlyweds celebrate Pride-themed weddings inside SF City Hall as parade preparations underway

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Newlyweds celebrate Pride-themed weddings inside SF City Hall as parade preparations underway


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — On Friday in San Francisco, hundreds of newlyweds began the next chapter of their love story at City Hall.

As they got married inside, Pride preparations were also underway outside of City Hall.

These Pride-themed City Hall weddings were all happening as the setup for the Pride celebration at Civic Center were wrapping up in preparation for Pride Saturday and Sunday.

More than 250 couples arrived for Pride Friday, some of them getting commemorative Pride marriage licenses.

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2026 SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE PARADE: How to watch exclusively on ABC7, what to know

Couples like Chris Parker and Jared Duensing got a very special officiant: San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.

“This is such a wonderful day, and so happy to finally be married after four years of knowing each other in such a wonderful location. Being married by the mayor was so special,” said newlywed Chris Parker.

“Just happy and excited for those couples, and I’m happy and excited for our city to show off what makes San Francisco so great — and our LGBTQ+ community is a huge part of why San Francisco is so special,” Lurie said.

All of this leads to a huge weekend in San Francisco.

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The stage being set up just outside of City Hall will mark the end of the parade route — but there’s a lot happening before that.

MORE: San Francisco Pride insiders reveal their must-know tips for the weekend

On Friday afternoon, the annual Trans March takes place at Dolores Park.

On Saturday, both the Trans Ally March and Rally and the Dyke March will take place.

On Saturday, performers will start taking the stage at Civic Center Plaza starting at noon.

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All of this, of course, is leading up to Sunday’s big parade when thousands will line Market Street.

Zach Fuentes will be hosting SF Pride Parade coverage only on ABC7 Eyewitness News this Sunday with Drew Tuma, Cameron Bopp and Tara Campbell — as well as with our community guest hosts.


Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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