Was Huntington Beach's Michael Gates fired from the Trump administration or did he resign?

The former Huntington Beach city attorney is disputing allegations that he was fired for cause by the Trump administration after less than a year. Michael Gates, a popular but controversial figure in Huntington Beach politics, told LAist on Friday he had made it known that he planned to resign prior to a supervisor telling him he no longer had a job.

Gates says he is going back to a job with the beach city, where he once earned more than Gov. Gavin Newsom, with a pay-and-benefits package of more than $384,000.

The Orange County Register published a story Friday, including a federal employment document, showing Gates was officially fired for cause. The document is undated and does not specify a reason.

The Department of Justice has not responded to LAist's records request for the documents.

The Register reported that a Department of Justice source said Gates repeatedly referred to women colleagues by derogatory and demeaning names and had complained about the department employing a pregnant woman.

Gates said the allegations are a "100% fabrication" and that he is considering legal action for defamation.

In a statement emailed to LAist, a spokesperson for Huntington Beach wrote that the city “has become aware of an OC Register article published this morning regarding Michael Gates. We take such matters seriously and are actively investigating.”

Gates told LAist the firing was an effort to reverse the narrative about a “dysfunctional” department.

“It was a very unprofessional environment,” Gates told LAist, adding that morale was low in the Civil Rights Division where he worked. “In terms of leadership, it was very dysfunctional.”

The Register posted a government personnel form stating Gates was fired for cause, but the form is undated. Natalie Baldassarre, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, responded, “No comment,” in response to emailed questions from LAist about Gates’ departure.

LAist also reached out by phone and email to Matthew Zandi, chief of staff for Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who was Gates’ boss at the department’s Civil Rights Division. We will update this story if we get a response.

What we know about the timeline 

Interviews with Gates and documents he shared with LAist paint a murky picture of the timeline of Gates’ departure.

Here’s what we know based on documents, social media and Gates’ interview with us:

Gates told LAist that he’d made his pending resignation known to colleagues in the Justice Department in recent weeks.

He said Zandi, the chief of staff, emailed Gates last Saturday to tell him that his last day would be Nov. 30.

On Nov. 7, Gates and Huntington Beach city manager Travis Hopkins signed an agreement for Gates to take a job as Huntington Beach’s chief assistant city attorney upon leaving the Department of Justice, according to details of the agreement Gates shared with LAist. A city spokesperson declined to answer LAist’s questions about the employment agreement.

Gates contacted LAist on Nov. 9, saying he was leaving the Department of Justice to return to Huntington Beach. He said he missed his family and missed being “in the most beautiful city in the world.”

Gates told LAist that while spending time at home during the lengthy government shutdown, community members and city leaders had urged him to come back to work for the city.

Later that day, Gates posted his resignation letter, dated Nov. 8, on social media. The letter was addressed to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and said it had “been an honor of a lifetime to work with you and the Trump administration.” Gates had been on the job for 10 months.

On Nov. 10, he said he was told that would be his last day. Gates told LAist he had no indication that he was being fired for cause and had never received any warning about his behavior or job performance.

“There’s zero basis for cause,” he said.

Gates is a big and controversial figure in HB

Gates is a popular, if controversial, figure in conservative Huntington Beach. He was first elected city attorney in 2014 and has won re-election twice since then. Huntington Beach is among a minority of cities in California that elects rather than appoints a city attorney.

Gates has been an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump and his policies and has battled with the state of California in court over housing mandates, the state’s sanctuary law and Huntington Beach’s plan to ask residents to show ID in order to cast a ballot.

Some of his legal decisions and actions on the job have cost taxpayers millions. In 2021, the city paid out $2.5 million total in a settlement with one former and one current employee who alleged age discrimination while working at the city under Gates. The city did not concede to any wrongdoing under the settlement.

Last year, Gates helped broker a controversial settlement over the pandemic-era cancelation of the city’s annual airshow, which will cost Huntington Beach taxpayers millions over the coming years.

Before he took the Trump administration job, Gates was one of the highest-paid public officials in California, with pay and benefits totaling $384,000 in 2024, according to the website Transparent California. By comparison, Newsom was paid $306,000 last year, according to the website.

Gates said he plans to run again for city attorney in next year’s election.