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President Donald Trump received troubling news as CNN issued a breaking alert.
The news network announced on Monday, December 1, that the federal appeals court had determined that Alina Habba, the president‘s former personal attorney, is illegally serving as the US attorney for New Jersey.
The decision follows a unanimous vote by a panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, to uphold a lower court judge’s determination.
The panel conducted oral arguments on October 20, with Habba in attendance, before reaching its conclusion. Habba, who represented the president during his New York civil fraud trial and the E. Jean Carroll defamation case, had continued in her position after her temporary appointment lapsed, despite lacking Senate confirmation.
District court judges had sought to replace her with her deputy, but this was prevented by the Trump Administration, which employed legal tactics involving the vacancies law to keep her in her position as “acting” attorney.
Alina Habba’s appointment was ruled unlawful (Image: AP) Follow Daily Express US
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Habba had been probing New Jersey’s Democratic governor Phil Murphy following his directive for state police not to cooperate with ICE agents.
Judges Luis Restrepo, who was nominated by Obama, and David Smith and David Fisher, both nominated by George W. Bush, determined that Habba was operating illegally.
In August, a lower court judge stated that Habba’s appointment was executed through a “novel series of legal and personnel moves.”
The order suggested that her actions since July could be invalidated, but it stayed the order pending an appeal at the time.
The government, on the other hand, contended that Habba is validly serving under a federal statute that allows the first assistant attorney, a role she was appointed to by the Trump administration.
Her case followed multiple individuals charged with federal crimes in New Jersey who questioned the legality of her position.
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President Trump hand-picked Habba for the role (Image: AP)
They have tried to block charges made against them, arguing that Habba lacked the authority to prosecute them, as her 120-day term as interim US attorney had expired.
Prior to President Trump appointing her as a federal prosecutor in March, Habba briefly served as a White House adviser.
Since then, she expressed her aspirations to help “turn New Jersey red,” in an unusual display of politicizing from a prosecutor.
She subsequently brought a trespassing charge against Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka following his visit to a federal immigration detention center.
That charge was later dismissed. She also charged Democratic US Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault over the same incident.
This move marked a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for an accusation other than corruption.
Habba has used legal tricks to extend her time in the role (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
McIver has refuted the charges and entered a plea of not guilty, with the case still pending. Doubts about Habba’s role first surfaced in July as her temporary tenure was nearing its end.
It also became clear that New Jersey’s two Democratic US senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, would not support her appointment. Earlier in the year, federal judges in New Jersey exercised their legal power to replace Habba with a career prosecutor who had served under her.
However, Attorney General Pam Bondi later dismissed that prosecutor, only to reinstate Habba as the acting US attorney. The Justice Department has contended that the judges acted prematurely and that President Trump has the authority to appoint his preferred candidate to enforce federal laws in the state.
Yet, Brann ruled that even presidential appointments are subject to time constraints and power-sharing rules outlined in federal law.