Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Habba has been unlawfully serving as New Jersey’s top prosecutor, according to a federal judge.
Habba, whose appointment to the role sparked a legal showdown between the Trump administration and the state’s federal judges, has been serving as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey “without lawful authority” for more than a month, according to District Judge Matthew Brann.
“Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not,” he wrote on Thursday.
“Because she is not currently qualified to exercise the functions and duties of the office in an acting capacity, she must be disqualified from participating in any ongoing cases,” he added.
The judge is pausing any outcome from his decision, however, to allow the government to fight his order in a federal appeals court.
Last month, New Jersey’s federal trial judges named their own nominee to replace Habba at the end of her 120-day term as the state’s acting U.S. Attorney.
But hours later, Attorney General Pam Bondi not only blocked the judges’ nominee but “removed” her from the office entirely.
That prosecutor, Desiree Leigh Grace, who has spent a decade fighting crime at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Newark, said she was prepared to take the job and would show up for work “in accordance with the law.”
Bondi fired her, publicly rebuked the judges, and promoted Habba to the role of acting U.S. attorney — preserving her role as the state’s top federal prosecutor.
Despite the New Jersey judges using their lawful authority to appoint Grace, who was hired by Habba to serve as her top assistant, Justice Department officials have accused them of advancing a politically motivated attempt to force Habba out of the job.
The judge’s ruling on Thursday stems from a challenge brought by New Jersey defendants challenging the legality of Habba’s tenure and the charges she brought against them.
They argued that Habba did not have the authority to bring charges against them after her 120-day term expired in July.
They have a “constitutional right to be prosecuted only by a duly authorized United States Attorney,” and “the illegitimacy of Ms. Habba’s appointment undermines … fundamental due process rights,” attorneys wrote in court filings.
A lack of clarity over the future, and legality, of Habba’s leadership has thrown her office into chaos, with New Jersey prosecutors admitting in court that some upcoming trials and other procedural matters would have to be adjourned altogether.
The Independent has requested comment from Habba’s office.
The Justice Department’s claims of political maneuvering within the federal judiciary follow years of allegations of Habba launching politically motivated stunts of her own.
After she briefly served as “counselor to the president” at the White House, Habba was sworn in as acting U.S. attorney in her home state on March 28. Shortly after her appointment, she told a right-wing media outlet that she plans to “turn New Jersey red.”
“So, hopefully, while I’m there, I can help that cause,” she said.
In April, Habba told Fox News that her office had launched an investigation into New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew Platkin over a directive to local law enforcement instructing them against cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
The following month, she announced on Fox News that her office was bringing criminal charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after a scuffle with federal agents during a congressional oversight visit at an immigration detention center.
She later abruptly dropped trespassing charges against Baraka “for the sake of moving forward” — and then criminally charged Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault.
The judge overseeing the case against Baraka criticized Habba’s about-face in open court and questioned why prosecutors even brought the charges in the first place.
To stay on permanently, Habba needs to be confirmed by the Senate, but it’s unlikely her name will come up for a vote any time soon. Opposition from New Jersey’s Democratic senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim have effectively killed off any imminent chances of a confirmation vote.
