Trump administration fights to keep ex-Trump lawyer Alina Habba as New Jersey federal prosecutor

Alina Habba. (AP)

TRENTON, N.J.: The Justice Department fought to keep President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Alina Habba, in place as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey on Tuesday after a panel of judges refused to extend her tenure and appointed someone else to the job.

Habba, who had been named the interim US attorney for the state in March, appeared to lose the position earlier Tuesday, when judges in the district declined to keep her in the post while she awaits confirmation by the US Senate.

Acting under a law that generally limits the terms of interim US attorneys to 120 days, the judges appointed one of Habba’s subordinates, Desiree Leigh Grace, as her successor.

But just hours later, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she had in turn removed Grace, blaming Habba’s removal on “politically minded judges.”

“This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges,” Bondi said on social media. The attorney general’s second in command, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, said in a post on social media that he didn’t believe Habba’s 120-day term expired until 11:59 p.m. Friday.

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement that Trump has full confidence in Habba and that the administration would work to get her confirmed by the US Senate, despite opposition from New Jersey’s two senators, both Democrats, who potentially have the power to block her nomination.

The judicial order appointing Grace, signed by Chief Judge Renee Marie Bumb, didn’t list any reasons for picking her for the position over Habba. Grace’s LinkedIn page shows she’s served as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey for the last nearly nine years.

Messages seeking comment were left with Habba’s office and the Justice Department.

Alina Habba’s tenure in New Jersey as top prosecutor

During her four-month tenure, Habba’s office tangled with two prominent New Jersey Democrats — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and US Rep. LaMonica McIver, over their actions during a chaotic visit to a privately operated immigration detention center in the state’s largest city.

Baraka was arrested on a trespass charge stemming from his attempt to join a congressional visit of the facility. Baraka denied any wrongdoing and Habba eventually dropped that charge. US Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa rebuked Habba’s office over the arrest and short-lived prosecution, calling it a “worrisome misstep.” Baraka is now suing Habba over what he says was a “malicious prosecution.”

Habba then brought assault charges against McIver, whose district includes Newark, over physical contact she made with law enforcement officials as Baraka was being arrested.

The prosecution, which is still pending, is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption. McIver denies that anything she did amounted to assault.

Besides the prosecution of McIver, Habba had announced she launched an investigation into New Jersey’s Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, and attorney general, Matt Platkin, over the state’s directive barring local law enforcement from cooperating with federal agents conducting immigration enforcement.

In social media posts, Habba highlighted her office’s prosecution of drug traffickers, including against 30 members of a fentanyl and crack cocaine ring in Newark.

Habba’s nomination has stalled under senatorial courtesy

Trump, a Republican, formally nominated Habba as his pick for US attorney on July 1, but the state’s two Democratic US senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim signaled their opposition to her appointment. Under a long-standing Senate practice known as senatorial courtesy, a nomination can stall out without backing from home state senators, a phenomenon facing a handful of other Trump picks for US attorney.

Booker and Kim accused Habba of bringing politically motivated prosecutions.

What is Habba’s background?

Once a partner in a small law firm near Trump’s New Jersey golf course, Habba served as a senior adviser for Trump’s political action committee, defended him in court in several lawsuits and acted as a spokesperson last year as he volleyed between courtrooms and the campaign trail.

US attorneys often have experience as prosecutors, including at the state or local level. Many, including the acting US attorneys in Brooklyn and Manhattan, have worked in the offices they now lead.

Habba said she wanted to pursue the president’s agenda of “putting America first.”

Habba was one of Trump’s most visible defense attorneys, appearing on cable TV news as his “legal spokesperson.” She represented Trump in 2024 in the defamation case involving E. Jean Carroll.

But Habba has had limited federal court experience, practicing mainly in state-level courts. During the Carroll trial, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan chided Habba for botching procedure, misstating the law, asking about off-limits topics and objecting after he ruled.