Trump ally Alina Habba has been unlawfully serving as US attorney, judge says

Ruling rejected President’s decision to keep Iraqi-American lawyer as US attorney when her interim term expired

Alina Habba, President Donald Trump's selection for interim US Attorney for New Jersey. AP

Alina Habba, US President Donald Trump’s choice to be the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, was blocked from handling cases by a district court judge who said her appointment was invalid.

The ruling on Thursday rejected Mr Trump’s decision to keep Ms Habba as acting US attorney when her interim term expired, even though the state’s federal judges chose her deputy to succeed her. Mr Trump instead fired the deputy, Desiree Grace, and used an unusual set of legal manoeuvres to keep Ms Habba, Bloomberg reported.

US District Judge Matthew Brann ruled that the Trump administration circumvented existing laws to appoint Ms Habba, without confirmation from the Senate in accordance with federal law.

The judge embraced some arguments by criminal defendants who claimed she does not deserve the powerful post. They sought to block the charges against them, arguing that Ms Habba did not have the authority to prosecute the case after her 120-day term as interim US attorney expired in July.

“Faced with the question of whether Ms Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not,” Mr Brann said.

The decision disqualifies Ms Habba from supervising or engaging in prosecution of criminal defendants who challenged the appointment. The ruling also applies to any prosecutor working under her direction.

Mr Brann said he would stay the effect of his decision pending the resolution of any appeal.

Ms Habba made headlines when Mr Trump named her US attorney for New Jersey in March. She said the state could “turn red”, a rare, overt political expression from a prosecutor, and said she planned to investigate the state’s Democratic Governor and Attorney General, AP reported.

She then brought a trespassing charge, which was eventually dropped, against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after he visited a federal immigration detention centre.

Ms Habba later charged Democratic Representative LaMonica McIver with assault after the same incident, in a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress other than for corruption. She denies the charges and has pleaded not guilty.

Problems over Ms Habba's tenure emerged in late July when the four-month temporary appointment was coming to a close and it became clear that she would not get support from state senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim, both Democrats, effectively ending her chances of Senate approval.

Ms Habba is of Iraqi descent. She was part of Habba Madaio & Associates. She represented Mr Trump in a series of legal challenges, including in a defamation lawsuit from a former Apprentice contestant who accused him of sexual assault.