No images available.
President Donald Trump is in the hot seat after CNN dropped a breaking news alert that isn’t great for him.
On Monday, December 1, the network announced that a federal appeals court gave a not-so-good ruling about Alina Habba, who used to be his personal lawyer. According to the decision, she was deemed to be serving unlawfully as the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. This verdict came from the panel of judges at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who unanimously sided with a lower court’s previous ruling.
The judges had a session on October 20 where Habba made an appearance and oral arguments were presented to reach this judgment. Habba, known for defending Trump in his New York civil fraud trial and the E. Jean Carroll case, had managed to keep her position even after her interim appointment expired, all without getting a Senate confirmation. This news following various health scares as Trump’s doctor revealed some concerning MRI results just adds more weight.
Judges involved in this decision included Luis Restrepo—an appointee of Obama—and David Smith and David Fisher, who were appointed by George W. Bush. They were all in agreement that Habba was acting improperly in her position.
Earlier in August, a lower court judge noted that things surrounding Habba’s appointment involved a “novel series of legal maneuvers”. This judge said her actions since July could actually be annulled, but they paused that order while the appeal was ongoing.
The government claimed that Habba’s role is legit under a federal rule that allows the first assistant attorney— a position she was appointed to by Trump. She had to deal with several defendants in New Jersey who were fighting charges as they claimed she didn’t have the authority to prosecute them, stating her interim 120-day period was over.
Prior to this, Habba had a brief stint as a White House adviser before becoming a federal prosecutor in March. Following this appointment, she expressed her ambition to “turn New Jersey red,” a pronouncement that stirred some eyebrows. She even attempted to file a trespassing charge against the Democratic Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, after he visited a federal immigration detention center; that charge, however, was later dismissed. Additionally, she prosecuted Democratic U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver for assault over the same incident—a notable occurrence as it marked one of the rare instances of a federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for non-corruption charges.
McIver has denied the allegations and entered a not-guilty plea. That case is still ongoing and critical questions arose about Habba’s situation back in July when her time in office appeared to be winding down.
At that point, it became clear that New Jersey’s Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, were not backing her for the attorney position. Earlier in the year, federal judges in New Jersey had started legal actions to replace her with her deputy, but the Trump administration used some legal tactics to keep Habba as the “acting” attorney. Even when Attorney General Pam Bondi decided to fire that deputy prosecutor, Habba was reinstated shortly after.
The Justice Department contended that the judges acted too soon and emphasized Trump’s authority to pick his appointee for enforcing federal laws in the state. However, Judge Brann determined that even a president’s appointments are bound by time limits and rules about the sharing of power outlined in federal law.
Adding to the embarrassment, a recent report looks negatively on FBI Director Kash Patel, calling him ‘not very good,’ which only adds further scrutiny.
Follow the updates on the latest news, sports, and entertainment from Mirror US by clicking here.
