Trump Names Alina Habba US Attorney for New Jersey

President Trump on Tuesday named Alina Habba, his former campaign spokesperson and private lawyer, to be New Jersey’s U.S. attorney for the next four years. This decision would remove her temporary status.

By doing this, Mr. Trump approved the extension of a devoted follower with a minimal prosecution background to head one of the nation’s most important law enforcement agencies. In March, Ms. Habba was named by Mr. Trump to the position, which has long served as a breeding ground for well-known jurists and political leaders.

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Ms. Habba has defied the U.S. attorneys’ customarily impartial stance. She has vigorously pursued Mr. Trump’s desire to use the Justice Department to attack his adversaries, particularly Democratic elected officials who disagree with his immigration policy.

“We might make New Jersey red.” In a conversation with a conservative podcast host following her appointment, Ms. Habba stated, “I truly think that.” “Hopefully, I can support that cause while I’m there.”

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She has asked the government’s attorneys to look into the immigration policy of the state, and the Democratic governor of New Jersey, Philip D. Murphy, and Matthew J. Platkin, the state’s attorney general, are also included. Matthew J. Platkin, the state’s attorney general, is also included.

Ras Baraka was captured outside an immigration detention centre in May, and Ms. Habba’s office filed criminal trespassing charges against him. Representative LaMonica McIver, who was also at the facility when Mr. Baraka was taken into custody, has now been charged with assault by her office.

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Later, allegations against Mr. Baraka were withdrawn, and a federal magistrate judge issued a rare warning to Ms. Habba’s office.

Judge André M. Espinosa informed prosecutors, “Your role is not to secure judgments at all costs, nor to satisfy public demand, nor to advance political agendas.”

Mr. Baraka filed a lawsuit against Ms. Habba in June, claiming that she had defamed him and that his imprisonment was politically motivated. “My advice to the governor – feel free to work together with me in prioritizing public safety and serious crime,” Ms. Habba said to Mr. Baraka last month on social media. Time would be better spent with the great people of New Jersey.

Before her appointment this year, Ms. Habba, who was the daughter of Catholic immigrants from Iraq who fled religious persecution, had managed a small civil litigation practice but lacked prosecutorial expertise.

She became Mr. Trump’s lawyer in 2021 after meeting him at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. She sued The New York Times and Mr. Trump’s niece for $100 million, alleging they were trying to obtain his tax information. A judge later dismissed the lawsuit.

In a defamation lawsuit brought by author E. Jean Carroll, who claimed that Mr. Trump had raped her decades prior, she then helped in spearheading Mr. Trump’s legal defense. The jury decided in favour of Ms. Carroll, and Mr. Trump was mandated to reimburse her $83.3 million in damages. Attorney General Letitia James of New York charged that Mr. Trump had inflated his wealth by billions of dollars.

In that case, Ms. Habba also defended Mr. Trump, and the judge fined him almost $450 million. Both cases are being appealed by Mr. Trump.

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The New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office employs about 150 federal prosecutors. Conservatives, such as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr, have historically held the position.

The Senate must confirm Ms. Habba before the end of July. For example, New York Senator Chuck Schumer has done Mr. Trump’s nominations for that state’s top U.S. attorney posts, and the Democratic senators of New Jersey may reject her nomination.

Until the Senate confirms her or another nominee, she may be appointed to the post by the New Jersey federal appeals court justices.

Ms. Habba “does not meet the standard” to become a U.S. attorney, according to Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey, who also criticised her performance during her three months in office.

In their statement, the senators claimed that the citizens of New Jersey deserved a top attorney with “a reputation and an approach that puts politics to the side, extensive knowledge with law enforcement, and who will work to keep the public safe and unbiased, seek justice.”

They went on to say, “She has degraded the office and pursued baseless and politically influenced prosecutions in her brief tenure as a temporary U.S. attorney.”

It was not immediately possible to contact Ms. Habba for comment.