‘Politically motivated’ Alina Habba being pushed out by NJ judges who take rare step to appoint own candidate for top prosecutor
New Jersey’s federal trial judges have voted to block Donald Trump’s personal attorney Alina Habba from serving as the state’s top prosecutor — and named their own nominee to replace her.
Habba’s 120-day interim appointment as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey is coming to an end following Trump’s nomination in March. She has yet to have any confirmation hearings in the Senate, and the state’s two Democratic senators have effectively denied her from having one.
In a rare move, the state’s district court judges named Habba’s first assistant Desiree Leigh Grace as her successor, according to Tuesday’s standing order, which was signed by the district’s chief judge Renee Marie Bumb.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused the judges of “trying to force” her out of the job.
“Their rush reveals what this was always about: a left-wing agenda, not the rule of law,” said Blanche, another of Trump’s former defense attorneys. “When judges act like activists, they undermine confidence in our justice system. Alina is President Trump’s choice to lead — and no partisan bench can override that.”
Habba defended Trump last year during his blockbuster fraud trial and defamation lawsuits brought by E. Jean Carroll, all of which Trump lost. She then briefly served as “counselor to the president” before Trump named her as U.S. attorney in her home state.
She was sworn into office on March 28, which means there are just days left on her 120-day interim term.
Blanche said her term expires at midnight Friday. The judges’ order takes effect Tuesday, or after Habba leaves office, whichever is later.
Trump nominated her for a full term on July 1, but the state’s Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim derailed any chance of a confirmation hearing by issuing a withering statement kneecapping her credibility. Nominees typically need approval from home state senators, and Habba would also likely face hurdles securing votes from skeptical Republicans.
In a joint statement following her nomination, the senators said she “does not meet the standard to serve” and accused her of pursuing “frivolous and politically motivated” prosecutions within her limited time in office.
In her first two months in office, Habba brought controversial charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Rep. LaMonica McIver, both Democrats, following a scrum with federal agents at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in the state.
The mayor was charged with trespassing, but Habba announced on May 19 that she was dropping the case “for the sake of moving forward.” A judge later reprimanded Habba for her “embarrassing retraction.”
Baraka’s “hasty arrest”, followed by Habba’s dismissal of the charges two weeks later, “suggests a worrying misstep by your office,” Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa said during a hearing that month. The mayor later sued Habba for malicious prosecution.
McIver, meanwhile, has been accused of assaulting law enforcement, which she has strenuously denied.
