A federal appeals court has ruled that Alina Habba, the former personal lawyer to Donald Trump, is disqualified from serving as the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey. The decision, delivered on Monday, represents a significant legal setback for the Trump administration's efforts to keep her in the powerful role.
Court Upholds Lower Court's Disqualification
A panel of judges from the third US circuit court of appeals in Philadelphia affirmed a lower court's earlier ruling. The judges heard oral arguments on 20 October, where Habba was present, before issuing a 32-page opinion. The court stated that the current administration had faced "legal and political barriers" in appointing its chosen candidates, but emphasised that the citizens of New Jersey and the staff of the US attorney's office deserved "clarity and stability."
The ruling directly challenges the Trump administration's manoeuvres to retain Habba as the acting US attorney for New Jersey after her interim appointment expired without Senate confirmation. The court concluded plainly: "We will affirm the district court's disqualification order."
A Pattern of Controversial Appointments
Habba is not an isolated case. The legality of several Trump administration prosecutor appointments has been contested by defence lawyers. Just last week, a federal judge dismissed criminal cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney general Letitia James. That ruling found that the prosecutor who filed the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed as interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. The justice department intends to appeal.
The appeals panel in Habba's case comprised two judges appointed by Republican president George W. Bush—D Brooks Smith and D Michael Fisher—and one, Luis Felipe Restrepo, appointed by Democratic president Barack Obama.
Political Tensions and Legal Challenges
Habba's appointment has been contentious from the start. She served as Trump's attorney in criminal and civil matters before his re-election and briefly as a White House adviser. In March, he named her as a federal prosecutor. Shortly after, in an interview with a right-wing influencer, she expressed a hope to help "turn New Jersey red," an unusual political statement for a prosecutor.
Her tenure saw her bring charges, later dropped, against Democratic Newark mayor Ras Baraka for trespassing. She also charged Democratic US House member LaMonica McIver with assault, a rare federal case against a sitting congressmember unrelated to corruption. McIver has pleaded not guilty.
Questions about her future intensified in July as her 120-day interim term ended and it became clear New Jersey's two Democratic US senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, would not support her permanent appointment. Federal judges in New Jersey then used their statutory power to replace her with a career prosecutor. Attorney General Bondi subsequently fired that prosecutor and reinstated Habba as acting US attorney, a move the justice department defended.
The legal challenges to her authority emerged from defendants in New Jersey who argued she lacked the power to prosecute them after her interim term lapsed. The lower court judge in August described her appointment as involving a "novel series of legal and personnel moves" and stated she was not lawfully serving. His order, stayed pending appeal, suggested actions taken since July could be invalidated.
This case underscores the ongoing legal battles over presidential appointment powers and the limits of interim positions within the US justice system, with a similar dispute currently unfolding in Nevada.
