A federal judge disqualified Alina Habba as New Jersey's acting U.S. attorney for alleged lack of legal authority
Habba was the Republican front-runner's personal attorney and even the spokeswoman for his presidential campaign before he decided to appoint her as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey last March.
Alina Habba, in a file image.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that New Jersey acting federal prosecutor Alina Habba lacks legal authority to continue prosecuting federal cases in that state. As reported by The New York Times, Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Matthew Brann noted that Habba should be immediately disqualified from ongoing cases in New Jersey as unqualified for the position, adding that she had acted without legal authority for more than a month.
"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," Brann ruled after a hearing last week. However, the federal judge, whowas nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in 2012 during the administration of former Democratic President Barack Obama, paused his decision to allow the administration of President Donald Trump to appeal his ruling. According to CNN, the Justice Department said itwill challenge Brann's decision, which could affect similarly appointed federal prosecutors in other federal districts.
Semantic maneuvers
According to the Times, Brann was to decide whether Habba could continue to serve as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey after Trump bypassed her confirmation processin the Senate, which is required to keep her in office. Previously, Habba was the Republican front-runner's personal attorney and even the spokeswoman for his presidential campaignbefore he decided to appoint her as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey last March.
According to Fox News, while the appointment culminated on July 1,both Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi resorted to a series of federal loopholes in order to declare her acting federal prosecutor instead of acting U.S. attorney for the district. The judge detailed that the president and the attorney general resorted to a semantic maneuver that was not legal, adding that Habba did not officially have a legal basis to continue serving as New Jersey's acting U.S. attorney as of that date.
"Politically motivated judges"
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