Alina Habba becomes Bondi advisor, leaving role as top New Jersey prosecutor
Alina Habba, a fiery Trump loyalist, is stepping down from her role as top prosecutor in New Jersey after an appellate court found last week that Attorney General Pam Bondi improperly appointed her as U.S. attorney.
Bondi announced Monday Habba would serve as the attorney general's senior advisor overseeing U.S. attorneys, while three Department of Justice officials are set to take on additional jobs overseeing various activities in the New Jersey court district in the wake of Habba's resignation.
"The court’s ruling has made it untenable for [Habba] to effectively run her office, with politicized judges pausing trials designed to bring violent criminals to justice," Bondi said in a statement.
Bondi said the DOJ would "seek further review" of the appellate court's decision and that the department is "confident it will be reversed." Habba intends to return as U.S. attorney in New Jersey if that is the case, Bondi said.
Habba served as President Donald Trump's personal defense lawyer before the president installed her this year as the temporary head of the New Jersey office.
Once Habba's term in New Jersey expired, the administration took a series of unconventional steps to attempt to reinstate her, but a three-judge panel found last week that federal vacancy laws did not permit Trump and the DOJ to sidestep the Senate confirmation process to keep Habba in charge.
Habba said in a statement of her new advisory position that her "fight will now stretch across the country" while the court battle over her appointment proceeds.
"Make no mistake, you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take New Jersey out of the girl," Habba said.
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The DOJ plans to delegate the U.S. attorney responsibilities in New Jersey to three officials, Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox and Ari Fontecchio.
"I have full confidence in each of these exceptional attorneys and look forward to our continued collaboration as we make New Jersey and America safe again," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
Habba's departure comes as Trump has struggled to keep his preferred appointees in place in blue states, where the Senate has a tradition of requiring home-state senators to approve of the U.S. attorneys and district court judges serving there through blue slips.
Habba is among several U.S. attorneys who have been disqualified over the unusual ways the Trump administration appointed them. The matter could soon land before the Supreme Court.
In a separate case, a federal judge found Lindsey Halligan, a former insurance lawyer and White House aide, was unlawfully serving as the head of the Eastern District of Virginia. In a statement Monday, DOJ leaders rebuffed that finding by calling Halligan a "U.S. attorney" and a victim of judicial bias.
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Halligan had quickly brought indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, but the judge tossed out both cases last month after finding Halligan lacked the authority to bring them.
The DOJ vowed to appeal Halligan's disqualification but has not done so at this stage.