Alina Habba, former personal defense lawyer to the president Donald TrumpStrengthening with force against efforts to withdraw her from her post as an American lawyer for New Jersey – providing to fight what she describes as a politically motivated campaign to avoid it.
“To put it in very simple terms, it is a complicated mechanism – what is happening – and it is, frankly, I think, broken,” she said during an interview with the political commentator Benny Johnson.
Why it matters
This comes after a panel of federal judges of New Jersey refused to extend Habba’s mandate as the main acting prosecutor of the state.
Trump hit Habba to serve as an American acting lawyer at the end of March and appointed it on July 1 to be the American lawyer on a permanent basis, who would have deleted her provisional status by the end of this week.
But an MJ spokesman said The New York Times Thursday that the president withdrew his appointment, which Allow him to continue to serve temporarily.
Alina Habba speaks before the presidential republican candidate, former president Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Alentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday October 29, 2024.
Matt Rourke / AP
What to know
During the interview, Habba said that the courtesy of the Blue Slip of the Senate – a non -binding tradition – is used to block the presidential appointments of American lawyers, which, according to her, constitutes the score or undermine the authority of the president.
The Blue Slip tradition is a custom of the Senate which gives senators of the states of the original state on a significant influence on federal judicial appointments and American lawyers in their state. It allows a senator to approve or block a candidate by returning or retaining a form of blue color, known as “Blue Slip”, to the Judicial Committee of the Senate.
In the case of Habba, both of the Democratic Senators of New Jersey, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, retained their blue slips, signaling formal opposition and preventing its appointment from progressing by the Senate judicial committee.
Booker and Kim allegue that she continued prosecution by Democratic legislators with political motivation to serve Trump’s agenda.
During Habba’s mandate as an American interim lawyer for the New Jersey district, Newark mayor Ras Baraka was accused of intrusion following a visit to the Congress in an immigration detention center. The case was abandoned a few days later, and a federal judge condemned arrest as a “worrying misstep”, warning that it should not be used as a political tool.
In the meantime, The representative Lamonica McIiver has been charged With the assault of federal agents during the same event. McIiver and criticism qualified the pursuit of political motivation, in particular given its role of supervision of the congress. Legal experts have observed that the case seemed “spectacularly inappropriate”, saying that Habba has bypassed DOJ’s supervision for accusations against elected officials.
Habba has also launched investigations into the Democratic Governor Phil Murphy and the Attorney General Matt Platkin, focused on New Jersey’s decision to limit cooperation with the Federal Immigration Application – A decision considered by criticisms as aligned with Trump’s political priorities.
But Habba said the decision to withdraw her from her post was an attempt to thwart President Trump’s powers.
“What we see is a systemic problem, where they use the courtesy of blue pants – it is not a law – as a mechanism to block the appointment of American lawyers by the president, according to the Ministry of Justice“Said Habba.
“It puts these American lawyers in a position where they are a little stuck. You are in this gel, and you cannot go out. Then, they will run the clock on you, and basically, what ends up happening is that they try to thwart the powers of the president.
“What we have seen in my situation, the head of the Senate minority sent direct instructions on Twitter Tell the judges to vote and block me. Once it is out of property of the Senate, judges can vote to keep you. I have dismissed its acting functions and I am now the acting lawyer. You have 120 days in the meantime, I resigned the day before. “”
Trump has the power to withdraw American lawyers who have been appointed by judges.
A panel of federal judges of New Jersey ruled on Tuesday to replace Habba with his first deputy sorted in terms of the American office, the Desiree Leigh Grace, after the end of his 120 days.
Shortly after the court decision, the Ministry of Justice, led by the Attorney General Bondia licensed Grace and accused the judges of political bias intended to curb the authority of the president.
In response, Trump’s team withdrew Habba’s appointment for the permanent role, which left him to resign as an acting prosecutor from the United States, then to be appointed first American assistant lawyer and to automatically rise to the role of acting American prosecutor under relevant vacancy laws, extending his mandate for 210 other days.
What people say
Harrison Fields, White House spokespersonpreviously told Nowsweek In a press release: “President Trump has fully confidence in Alin Habbawhose work as an acting American lawyer for the New Jersey district made the Garden State and the nation safer. The Trump administration is looking forward to its last confirmation in the United States Senate And will work tirelessly to ensure that the inhabitants of New Jersey are well represented. “”
What happens next
Habba will remain in his role as an American interim lawyer in New Jersey for at least the next 210 days.