Routine drug case could decide Habba's fate as US attorney

July 29, 2025, 2:14 PM EDT
By Jordan Rubin

When Julien Giraud Jr. was federally indicted on drug and gun charges last year in New Jersey, he had little reason to think his case would double as a challenge to the lawfulness of Alina Habba’s position as U.S. attorney. But that challenge is now playing out, as the defendant argues that the Trump ally isn’t lawfully serving in her position and therefore the office she purports to lead lacks the authority to prosecute him ...

Habba had been temporarily serving as U.S. attorney since March, but her temporary period expired this month without her being confirmed by the Senate to serve full time. New Jersey’s federal judges used their legal authority to appoint a different prosecutor from the office, Desiree Leigh Grace, as the new interim U.S. attorney. But the Trump administration moved to fire Grace. President Donald Trump also withdrew his nomination of Habba, she technically resigned, and the administration then reinstalled her through another mechanism to keep her in the job as acting U.S. attorney ...

So what’s Giraud’s argument? In a motion filed Sunday ahead of his trial set for next week, his lawyer Thomas Mirigliano wrote that Habba’s reappointment violated federal law because the fact that Trump submitted Habba’s nomination to the Senate prevents her from serving in an acting capacity, regardless of whether Trump subsequently withdrew her nomination or not. He argued that being prosecuted by an unauthorized U.S. attorney undermines his due process rights, so he asked U.S. District Judge Edward Kiel, the New Jersey judge handling his case, to dismiss the indictment or at least to block Habba or any prosecutor acting under her authority from prosecuting him.

The New York Times reported that federal court proceedings throughout New Jersey “were abruptly canceled on Monday because of uncertainty over” Habba’s authority, citing Giraud’s case and others. Habba is one of several lawyers who represented Trump in his personal capacity and have gone on to high-ranking Justice Department posts during his second term ...

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/alina-habba-us-attorney-julien-giraud-lawsuit-rcna221696

... the writ of quo warranto is “utilized to test whether person may lawfully hold office and the purpose of writ of quo warranto is to ascertain whether office holder is constitutionally and legally authorized to perform any act in, or exercise any functions of, office to which he or she lays claim” ... https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/quo_warranto