Bondi fires Habba's replacement [View all]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/nyregion/alina-habba-nj-us-attorney.html

Showdown in New Jersey Over Top Federal Prosecutor
Alina Habba’s term as interim U.S. attorney was set to expire this week. Federal judges announced a replacement, but Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly intervened.
By Tracey Tully and Jonah E. Bromwich
July 22, 2025 Updated 6:44 p.m. ET

The leadership of the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey was thrown into confusion on Tuesday as top Justice Department officials pushed back after federal judges in the state moved to appoint a new U.S. attorney.

The panel of federal judges rejected Alina Habba’s bid to stay in the job as the state’s U.S. attorney. Instead, they invoked a rarely used power to select a candidate of their own, Desiree Leigh Grace, an experienced prosecutor whom Ms. Habba had named as her first assistant soon after she took over as interim U.S. attorney in March.

But the attorney general, Pam Bondi, responded Tuesday evening with a social media post defending Ms. Habba and saying that the first assistant — Ms. Grace — “has just been removed.”

“This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges — especially when they threaten the President’s core Article II powers,” Ms. Bondi wrote.

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