Early career
In 2002,Chattah opened her own law firm in Las Vegas,where she practices domestic and international law. She also taught political science at the University of Nevada,Las Vegas,from 2005 to 2009. [3] [4] In July 2019,the Las Vegas City Council unanimously ratified Chattah's appointment to the Las Vegas Planning Commission,where she served for four years representing Ward 2. She also served on the Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board of the State Bar of Nevada. [5]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada,Chattah represented churches in challenging the state's 50-person occupancy limit during lockdowns and filing an emergency petition for a preliminary injunction,requesting a judge to declare that Governor of Nevada Steve Sisolak's orders violated constitutional rights. [6] [7]
Runs for Nevada Attorney General and RNC
In March 2021,Chattah announced that she would run for Nevada Attorney General in the 2022 election,challenging incumbent Democrat Aaron D. Ford. [8] She stated that her decision was motivated by her belief that the state's pandemic restrictions and shutdowns were unconstitutional. [9] Chattah ran against Tisha Black,a business attorney based in Las Vegas,in the Republican primary. During the campaign,Chattah criticized Black for having previously donated to then-Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak,a Democrat. [10] She won against Black in the Republican primary. [11]
In January 2022,journalist Sarah Ashton-Cirillo leaked text messages in which Chattah compared incumbent Ford to the leader of Hamas and stated that he "should be hanging from a fucking crane," which drew widespread criticism and were condemned as inappropriate. She stated that she did not believe Chattah was racist or that the comments were intended to reference Ford's race,but said her reason for releasing the messages was to raise concerns about Chattah's temperament. [12] Because of the leak,Ford refused to debate Chattah during the election,stating that he would not debate someone who "didn't respect [his] dignity as a human or [his] humanity." [13] Ford defeated Chattah in the general election,with HuffPost highlighting the leaked texts as a significant issue during the campaign. [14] [15]
In December 2022,Chattah and retired attorney Pauline Ng Lee ran for a seat on the Republican National Committee,seeking to fill the vacancy left by Michele Fiore. [16] Chattah received endorsements from national figures such as Matt Gaetz and Richard Grenell. She was elected to the Republican National Committee seat in January 2023,defeating Lee by 75 votes. [17]
United States attorney
In March 2025,President Donald Trump announced the appointment of Sigal Chattah as the interim United States Attorney for the District of Nevada. U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto referred to Chattah as an "election denier who has advocated for political violence," while Senator Jacky Rosen stated that she would do "everything in [her] power to block her confirmation." [18] [19] She took office as interim attorney on April 1,2025. [4] She continued to be listed as a Republican National Committee committeewoman and was introduced virtually at a Nevada Republican Party meeting on April 5,with her participation prompting concerns by the The Nevada Independent about a possible violation of U.S. Department of Justice rules prohibiting political activity by its employees. [20]
In July 2025,Trump extended Chattah's term as interim U.S. Attorney for an additional 210 days,before her 120-day term was set to expire. Masto and Rosen have said they would block her nomination using Senate rules. [21] Trump's extension of Chattah's term prevented a federal court from rejecting her permanent appointment or appointing a new U.S. attorney. [22] Prior to her extension,116 former federal and state judges,nominated by presidents of both parties,wrote a letter calling for the court to not permanently appoint Chattah. In the letter,Chattah was described as "known for incendiary rhetoric and a record of urging weaponization of law enforcement for political ends." Democracy Defenders Action and the Society for the Rule of Law Institute spearheaded the letter. The judges claimed that Chattah has a "long history of threatening to misappropriate law enforcement resources to pursue those who disagree with her politics," and a "history of racist statements,including violence-tinged remarks about a black political opponent." They claimed as well that Chattah has demonstrated "extreme partisan bias and has a record of undermining confidence in the judiciary,including stating that judicial decisions she disagrees with are part of a 'deep state' conspiracy." They claim that "Chattah’s shocking racist and violence-tinged rhetoric should disqualify her from this office.” [21] [22] [23]
On September 30,2025,U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell ruled that Chattah was not validly serving as acting United States Attorney for the District of Nevada and disqualified her from participating in or supervising four federal criminal cases,writing that her involvement “would be unlawful.”The court concluded that after her 120-day interim term expired in July,subsequent personnel moves used to keep her in the role violated federal vacancies law. Campbell left the indictments in place but ordered the line prosecutors to certify that Chattah was not directing their work. [24] [25] [26] [27]
Tom Alexandrovich
In August 2025 following a child sex predator sting operation, Tom Alexandrovich, a senior Israeli government official, was arrested, accused of soliciting sexual acts from a minor in Chattah's jurisdiction; he was released on bail and returned to Israel. Chattah wrote a post on X blaming "a liberal district attorney and state court judge" for not confiscating Alexandrovich's passport. [28] Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, to whom Chattah's X post referred, disputed Chattah's post as "a rant with false claims" and challenged her fitness to serve. [29] Following the controversy, Axios reported that some criticism of Chattah, such as by Candace Owens, included references to her Israeli origin. [30]
Political views and opinions
Chattah has a history of controversial remarks regarding Palestinians, including referring to them as “animals,” calling for wiping Gaza “off the map,” and suggesting that “even the children” in the enclave are “terrorists.” [31]
She also called US state representative Jamaal Bowman an "antisemitic ghetto rat". In defense, she claims that she is not racist and that, while in office, she upholds a decorum that is not necessarily present in her private conversations. In reference to being called "extremist" by US senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen she claimed that she does not think she is extremist and that "there is no extremist bone in her body." [32]
