A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Alina Habba, President Trump’s chief prosecutor in New Jersey, was improperly installed in her post, and it disqualified her from prosecutions against two defendants.
Circuit Judge D. Michael Fisher, writing for the three-judge panel, said the law has a specific system for filling vacancies in U.S. attorney offices, and Mr. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi broke the rules in their attempt to shoehorn Ms. Habba in as acting U.S. attorney.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not toss out the prosecutions themselves, but ruled Ms. Habba cannot participate in them.
Mr. Trump has nominated Ms. Habba, who was a personal lawyer for Mr. Trump, to be the U.S. attorney. And in the meantime, she was appointed to act as the chief prosecutor, first as acting U.S. attorney and, when the clock ran out on that, as “first assistant U.S. attorney,” which would still leave her in charge.
But Judge Fisher said under the law, only the person who was first assistant when the job first became vacant can serve as the chief. And because Mr. Trump has officially nominated Ms. Habba, she is also barred from being the acting U.S. attorney at this point.
Ms. Bondi had attempted to cure the situation by delegating powers to Ms. Habba as a “special attorney,” which the Justice Department said allowed her to act as the office chief. Judge Fisher said that, too, violates the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which lays out the specific rules for becoming an acting U.S. attorney.
“It is apparent that the current administration has been frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to getting its appointees in place. Its efforts to elevate its preferred candidate for U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, to the role of Acting U.S. attorney demonstrate the difficulties it has faced — yet the citizens of New Jersey and the loyal employees in the U.S. Attorney’s Office deserve some clarity and stability,” Judge Fisher, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote.
He was joined by Judges Brooks Smith, another Bush appointee, and Judge Felipe Restrepo, an Obama appointee.
The 3rd Circuit did not toss out the indictments.
That’s a better result for Mr. Trump than he suffered last week in Virginia, where a federal judge ruled another acting U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan, was improperly appointed. Judge Cameron Currie then scrapped cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, two high-profile Trump adversaries.
Judge Currie said that because Ms. Halligan was the only prosecutor to sign off on the prosecutions of the two, the cases had to be dismissed.
In California, Mr. Trump’s acting U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, has also been ruled to be illegally serving.
Both Mr. Essayli and Ms. Habba were appointed to serve as acting U.S. attorneys earlier this year, filling positions that became vacant after their predecessors — Biden picks — resigned.
Under the law, acting U.S. attorneys can serve for 120 days. Both have stayed in control well beyond that time frame.
