Alina Habba resigned on Monday from her position as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, ending the three-month legal battle over whether she was lawfully appointed to the position.
Ms. Habba announced her resignation in a social media post. She will now serve as a senior adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi and will oversee U.S. attorneys across the country.
In a statement, Ms. Habba said she was stepping down to protect “the stability and integrity of the office which I love.”
“But do not mistake compliance for surrender,” Ms. Habba wrote. “This decision will not weaken the Justice Department and it will not weaken me.”
Ms. Habba’s resignation comes after a protracted legal fight about whether she could serve in the U.S. attorney role without Senate confirmation.
In August, a federal judge ruled that she was serving in the role “without lawful authority,” concluding she should be disqualified as New Jersey’s top federal law enforcement officer. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld that decision, concluding the Trump administration violated the law when it used a series of maneuvers to put her in the position after she failed to win Senate support.
In its ruling, the Third Circuit lambasted the administration’s maneuver of naming individuals as “acting” U.S. attorneys to circumvent the Senate confirmation process. The judges said it was an effort by the Trump administration to circumvent the constitutionally mandated approval process.
Speaking with reporters Monday, Mr. Trump blasted Democrats for blocking Ms. Habba’s appointment, as well as the longtime Senate tradition of requiring senators to submit a so-called “blue slip” to support the nomination of a U.S. attorney or judge in their state, or withhold it to signal their opposition.
“It’s a horrible thing. It makes it impossible to appoint a judge or a U.S. attorney,” Mr. Trump said of the blue slips. “The Republicans should be ashamed of themselves that they allowed this to go, because I can’t appoint a U.S. attorney that’s not a Democrat.”
Mr. Trump said, “The Democrats have violated the blue-slip provisions on numerous occasions, but we don’t do it, and what that means, I guess, is that I have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint another one [and] another one. It’s a very sad situation.”
New Jersey’s two Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, issued a joint statement saying Ms. Habba’s resignation “brings to a close a troubling chapter.”
“Habba’s installation through an irregular and unlawful process undermined the credibility of the office and eroded the public’s trust in the state’s chief federal prosecutors,” they said.
They called on the Trump administration to work with them to put forth a nominee “with deep prosecutorial experience, unquestioned integrity and a genuine commitment to delivering impartial justice.”
Ms. Bondi said the Justice Department will “seek further review” of the Third Circuit court’s decision and that Ms. Habba intends to return as U.S. attorney in New Jersey if the decision is overturned.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Monday that the role of U.S. attorney for New Jersey will be held in the meantime by three Justice Department officials, with Philip Lamparello overseeing criminal prosecutions, Jordan Fox supervising the office’s Civil Division and Appellate Division, and Ari Fontecchio running the district’s administrative division and other administrative matters.
“I have full confidence in each of these exceptional attorneys and look forward to our continued collaboration as we make New Jersey and America safe again,” Mr. Blanche said, calling the three “the best and brightest to carry out our mission.”
Ms. Habba was the first of Mr. Trump’s U.S. attorney appointments to face a legal challenge, but since then, three other U.S. attorneys had also been found to be serving unlawfully.
“It’s kind of sad that the rogue judge issue has happened. I think it’s unfortunate for any U.S. attorney sitting in a blue state with senators like I have who have never met me,” she told The Washington Times at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday. “It’s anti-American. It’s not what we are supposed to do.”
Ms. Habba defended her record as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
“I have not weaponized it,” she said of her brief time in the position. “Crime is down in New Jersey, almost 40%. Camden has had its first summer without a murder in 50 years and you can’t get behind me, that means you are just being political.”
By resigning, Ms. Habba saves the Trump administration from a legal showdown that could potentially curb the president’s power to make appointments if the administration did not prevail.
In addition to Ms. Habba, federal judges also deemed unconstitutional the appointments of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, along with the U.S. attorneys for Nevada and the Central District of California.
Before being appointed, Ms. Habba served as a personal defense attorney for Mr. Trump during his New York civil fraud case and defamation trials.
Last month, a federal appeals court upheld a $1 million penalty against Ms. Habba and Mr. Trump for being in a frivolous lawsuit against former FBI Director James Comey and Hillary Clinton. A different federal judge threw out both criminal cases against Mr. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after concluding Ms. Halligan, a former insurance lawyer and White House aide with no prosecutorial experience, was unlawfully appointed as U.S. attorney.
Ms. Bondi has insisted the administration would appeal the ruling, but no appeal has been filed. A grand jury last week rejected an effort by the administration to revive its case against Ms. James.
Earlier Monday, Ms. Bondi and Mr. Blanche issued a joint statement blasting judges for questioning Ms. Halligan’s legitimacy, accusing them of “engaging in an unconscionable campaign of bias and hostility.”
“Lindsey and our attorneys are simply doing their jobs: advocating for the Department of Justice’s positions while following guidance from the Office of Legal Counsel,” the statement said. “They do not deserve to have their reputations questioned in court for ethically advocating on behalf of their client. This Department of Justice has no tolerance for undemocratic judicial activism.”
