Trump hit with setback as court rules Alina Habba unlawfully served as top federal prosecutor in New Jersey
An appellate court found on Monday that Alina Habba is unlawfully serving as the top prosecutor in New Jersey, delivering a blow to President Donald Trump as he fights to...
By Fox News · Fox News
An appellate court found on Monday that Alina Habba is unlawfully serving as the top prosecutor in New Jersey, delivering a blow to President Donald Trump as he fights to keep his preferred nominees in charge of U.S. attorneys' offices in blue states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said in a unanimous 3-0 order that a lower court was correct to disqualify Habba, a fiery Trump loyalist who previously served as the president's personal defense lawyer. The Trump administration could ask for a full panel of 3rd Circuit judges to reconsider the decision, or it could turn to the Supreme Court to weigh in. Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice and a Habba spokesperson for comment. A three-judge panel for the 3rd Circuit heard arguments on Habba’s appointment in October and grilled a Department of Justice lawyer over the unconventional way Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi reinstalled Habba as U.S. attorney after her initial, temporary appointment expired. TRUMP APPOINTS HABBA AS ‘ACTING’ US ATTORNEY AFTER JUDGES OUSTED HER Habba is one of several names who became jammed up in court proceedings over allegations that Trump sidestepped the Senate and improperly exploited loopholes in federal vacancy laws to keep his preferred prosecutors in place. Habba’s case was the furthest along in the court process, but Lindsey Halligan and Bill Essayli, temporary U.S. attorneys in Virginia and California, respectively, are among those also facing high-stakes court challenges to their appointments. The panel that heard Habba’s case comprised two appointees of former President George W. Bush and one appointee of former President Barack Obama. The judges voiced skepticism of DOJ lawyer Henry Whitaker’s claims that Bondi had authority to fill the vacancy for the U.S. attorney of New Jersey after Trump fired the court-appointed one. Whitaker said the administration simply took advantage of "overlapping mechanisms" afforded to it by Congress. TRUMP'S U…