Trump administration to defend Alina Habba’s tenure as top New Jersey prosecutor

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press PHILADELPHIA AP A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments Monday over whether President Donald Trump s former lawyer Alina Habba has been unlawfully serving as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey since earlier this year Related Articles US envoys arrive in Israel to shore up the Gaza ceasefire after a major flareup Supreme Court will consider whether people who regularly smoke pot can legally own guns Zelenskyy says his meeting with Trump was positive though he didn t get the Tomahawk missiles Trump suggests US will buy Argentinian beef to bring down prices for American consumers Boston Common hosts No Kings rally protesting President Trump The rd Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled a hearing in Philadelphia over Habba s appointment which a lower court judge noted in August was done with a novel series of legal and personnel moves and that she was not lawfully serving as U S attorney for New Jersey The judge s order commented that her actions since July could be declared void but put his order on hold so the U S Justice Department could appeal Habba is validly serving in the role under a federal statute that permits the first assistant attorney a post she was appointed to by the Trump administration the leadership noted in court briefs ahead of Monday s hearing A similar dynamic is playing out in Nevada where a federal judge disqualified the administration s pick to be U S attorney there In the Habba development 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 -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 commented in an interview she hoped to help turn New Jersey red a rare overt political expression from a prosecutor and declared 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 occurrence a rare federal criminal circumstance against a sitting member of Congress other than for corruption McIver denied the charges and pleaded not guilty The scenario 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 declared the judges acted prematurely and mentioned Trump had the authority to appoint his preferred candidate to enforce federal laws in the state Brann s ruling reported the president s appointments are still subject to the time limits and power-sharing rules laid out in federal law