Trump Administration Stands by Alina Habba’s Leadership as New Jersey’s Chief Prosecutor

PHILADELPHIA – On Monday, a federal appeals court will delve into the legality of Alina Habba’s role as the chief federal prosecutor in New Jersey, a position she has held since early this year. Habba, formerly a lawyer for President Donald Trump, is at the center of this debate.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has arranged a session in Philadelphia to scrutinize Habba’s appointment. In August, a lower court judge criticized the process as “novel” in terms of legal and personnel procedures, suggesting her appointment as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey was not legitimate.

The judge indicated that decisions made by Habba since July might be rendered void but paused the enforcement of this order, allowing the U.S. Justice Department time to file an appeal.

The government has argued in court documents that Habba’s position is justified by a federal statute, which allows the first assistant attorney to assume this role. She was appointed to this post during the Trump administration, providing the basis for her current role.

This situation mirrors a similar case in Nevada, where another federal judge has rejected the Trump administration’s nominee for U.S. attorney in that state.

In the Habba case, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann’s decision came after several people charged with federal crimes in New Jersey challenged the legality of Habba’s tenure. They sought to block the charges, arguing she didn’t have the authority to prosecute their cases after her 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney expired.

Habba was Trump’s attorney in criminal and civil proceedings before he was elected to a second term. She served as a White House adviser briefly before Trump named her as a federal prosecutor in March.

Shortly after her appointment, she said in an interview she hoped to help “turn New Jersey red,” a rare overt political expression from a prosecutor, and said she planned to investigate the state’s Democratic governor and attorney general.

She then brought a trespassing charge, eventually dropped, against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka stemming from his visit to a federal immigration detention center.

Habba later charged Democratic U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault stemming from the same incident, a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress other than for corruption. McIver denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. The case is pending.

Questions about whether Habba would continue in the job arose in July when her temporary appointment was ending and it became clear New Jersey’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, would not back her appointment.

With her appointment expiring, federal judges in New Jersey exercised their power under the law to replace Habba with a career prosecutor who had served as her second in-command.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi then fired the prosecutor installed by the judges and renamed Habba as acting U.S. attorney. The Justice Department said the judges acted prematurely and said Trump had the authority to appoint his preferred candidate to enforce federal laws in the state.

Brann’s ruling said the president’s appointments are still subject to the time limits and power-sharing rules laid out in federal law.