President Donald Trump previously named his former personal attorney, Alina Habba, to serve as the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey.
A judicial panel failed to extend her appointment, so she was replaced, and her replacement was subsequently fired by the Trump DOJ, with Habba then tapped to retake the position.
Now, a judge has ruled that her appointment is illegal, sending the Trump camp into a frenzy.
When Trump named Habba to the post, the entire left had a meltdown.
Habba, as you may recall, had served as Trump’s personal attorney in some of his civil cases, and she was then named to his administration as an adviser.
In March, Trump named Habba to serve as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
In July, a judicial panel refused to retain Habba in the post, naming Desiree Grace as her replacement. Grace, to this point, had previousl served as Habba’s first assistant. Grace announced that she intended to accept the position, but Trump had other ideas.
After Habba was removed from the post, Attorney General Pam Bondi reacted by dismissing Grace from her post and reinstalling Habba, citing that the administration would not be intimidated by rogue judges.
This, of course, sent Democrats into a tizzy.
Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Andy Kim (D-NJ) stated, “Trump’s Department of Justice is once again criticizing a court that acted within its authority, continuing a pattern of publicly undermining judicial decisions and showing disregard for the rule of law and the separation of powers.”
Their statement continued, “The firing of a career public servant, lawfully appointed by the court, is another blatant attempt to intimidate anyone that doesn’t agree with them and undermine judicial independence."
U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann, appointed by former President Barack Obama, just ruled that Habba’s appointment was unlawful, stating that she therefore must be removed. He ruled, “Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not.”
Habba then went on Fox News to respond, stating, “It’s disturbing, what we’re seeing. And Pam Bondi called it like it is. The attorney general said it today. We will not fall to rogue judges. We will not fall to people trying to be political when they should just be doing their job: respecting the president. And you can’t get rid of the president.”
She also stated, “I am the pick of the president. I am the pick of Pam Bondi, our attorney general, and I will serve this country like I have for the last several years, in any capacity.”
Trump is in a bit of a pickle here because the law does not support Habba remaining in office. I am not saying I like the law, but as written, since she was not retained by the judiciary review panel, Habba should have been removed. Having said that, I still expect Trump to fight this to see if he can keep Habba, who has been a loyal soldier and major surrogate for Trump.
