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(3,608 posts) Sat Aug 2, 2025, 07:57 AM Aug 2

Trump Appointment Maneuver Risks Thousands of Criminal Cases

Today on TAP: Alina Habba’s sneaky reappointment as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey violates the law, says a criminal defendant, who wants his case thrown out as a result.

by David Dayen July 29, 2025

In the fight to preserve American democracy from Trumpian authoritarianism, a New Jersey defendant accused of drug and gun crimes named Julien Giraud Jr. could become the unlikeliest of heroes.

Alina Habba is Trump’s former personal lawyer and a MAGA influencer, who was installed as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey about four months ago, despite no prosecutorial experience. She immediately politicized the office, opening investigations into the sitting governor and attorney general and charging Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) with assault for an incident at a Newark ICE detention facility. She has said in interviews that her role as a federal prosecutor would be to help “turn New Jersey red.”

But Habba had a problem: The Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) only gave her a 120-day window to perform the duties of the office in an interim capacity. Though Habba was nominated on July 1 to serve permanently as U.S. attorney, New Jersey’s senators have thus far blocked her from consideration. As last Friday’s deadline approached, Habba petitioned a three-judge panel to allow her to stay in the position. But the judges used their authority under the vacancy laws to reject that request and instead appointed Desiree Leigh Grace, the first assistant U.S. attorney.

The administration then maneuvered to keep Habba in the job. The law prevents someone from being an acting U.S. attorney and nominated for the post at the same time. But Habba resigned as interim U.S. attorney, and Trump withdrew her nomination for the post. Then, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Grace and hired Habba as first assistant U.S. attorney in her place. Therefore, under the vacancy rules, Habba could become the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey for another 210 days.
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2025-07-29-trump-appointment-maneuver-risks-thousands-of-criminal-cases/

2 replies

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Trump Appointment Maneuver Risks Thousands of Criminal Cases (Original Post) Passages Aug 2 OP

Habba is a dumb disgrace and just a bad lawyer... but she's loyal to the orange shit so LymphocyteLover Aug 2 #1

Deadline: Legal Blog-How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba's fate as U.S. attorney LetMyPeopleVote Aug 2 #2

LymphocyteLover

(8,754 posts)

1. Habba is a dumb disgrace and just a bad lawyer... but she's loyal to the orange shit so

Reply to Passages (Original post)

Sat Aug 2, 2025, 09:24 AM

Aug 2

that's all that matters. This administration is beyond parody and beyond evil.

LetMyPeopleVote

(169,885 posts)

2. Deadline: Legal Blog-How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba's fate as U.S. attorney

Reply to Passages (Original post)

Sat Aug 2, 2025, 04:39 PM

Aug 2

A New Jersey defendant argues that Habba can’t lawfully prosecute the case because she isn’t legally the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

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

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.....

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.

After Giraud filed his motion, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, which covers New Jersey and nearby states, tapped Pennsylvania’s chief federal trial judge for the state’s middle district, Matthew Brann, to preside over the matter. The chief circuit judge made the move under a law that says chief circuit judges “may, in the public interest, designate and assign temporarily any district judge of the circuit to hold a district court in any district within the circuit.”.....

Brann ordered a status conference with the parties to take place Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., so the direction in which the matter is headed could become clearer later Tuesday. Whatever happens at the trial court level might not be the last word on this consequential and thorny issue, so this could be just the start of drawn-out litigation.

This will be a fun case to watch.

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