Donald Trump is not having the best of luck with his U.S. Attorney appointments.
A court recently ruled that his appointment of Lindsey Halligan to take over the James Comey and Letitia James cases was illegal, as it had occurred within a 120-day window, during which two acting U.S. Attorneys could not be appointed.
Now, Trump’s appointment of his former personal attorney, Alina Habba, as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey is being nullified as well.
Habba served as Trump’s personal attorney for several years, leading his defense team at one point in several cases brought against him before the 2024 election.
She did not come off to many as a particularly good attorney, and she was often called out by judges for not being properly prepared, but she was loyal to Trump, and he rewarded her for that.
In March 2024, Trump named Habba to serve as the acting U.S. Attorney in New Jersey.
Habba responded to the appointment, “I am honored to serve my home state of New Jersey as Interim U.S. Attorney and I am grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility. Just like I did during my time as President Trump’s personal attorney, I will continue to fight for truth and justice. We will end the weaponization of justice, once and for all.”
The appointment was soon challenged by the Washington Litigation Group on behalf of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (ACDLNJ).
The Group maintained that Trump did not follow key protocols required for her appointment to be considered valid, and it won the case in the lower courts, an outcome that was later appealed by the Trump administration.
ACDLNJ Senior Counsel James Pearce responded to the lower court ruling, “We are grateful for the District Court’s decision finding that Alina Habba’s appointment was unlawful.”
His statement continued, “As we explained in our brief and at argument, Congress has established a detailed process for the appointment of acting and interim U.S. Attorneys. The District Court correctly concluded that the executive branch cannot circumvent the law. If the government appeals the decision, we stand ready to represent the unified voice of the New Jersey criminal defense bar.”
Today, the relevant appellate court announced its ruling in the administration’s appeal of the case, and as expected, it ruled against Trump.
The three-judge panel ruled unanimously against the administration, so this creates a bit of a conundrum for Trump, not to mention all the problems that are sure to arise regarding the cases Habba has overseen since her appointment began.
Habba had no path to confirmation in the Senate, as she has zero support from Democrats, and there were questions about whether even the GOP contingent in the Senate would fully support her. She had been completely rejected by both Democrat senators from New Jersey, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) stated that he would not stray from the blue-slip tradition, which calls for a nominee's rejection if neither senator from the state where he or she would serve approves.
The White House has not yet commented on whether it plans to take the appeals process to the next level or whether it will replace Habba with a "legal" appointment.
