Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Habba will “step down” from her role as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey after several judges determined she was unlawfully serving as the state’s top federal prosecutor.
Last week, a federal appeals court panel affirmed a lower-court order and disqualified her from office, ending yet another legal showdown between the Trump administration and federal judiciary.
Habba, who represented Trump during a blockbuster fraud case in New York and against defamation and sexual abuse claims from E. Jean Carroll, said in a statement that she will now serve as a “senior advisor” to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
As a result of the appellate court ruling, “and to protect the stability and integrity of the office which I love, I have decided to step down,” she wrote Monday.
“But do not mistake compliance for surrender. This decision will not weaken the Justice Department and it will not weaken me,” she said. “Make no mistake, you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take New Jersey out of the girl.”
In a statement, Bondi said the appeals court ruling “has made it untenable for her to effectively run her office, with politicized judges pausing trials designed to bring violent criminals to justice.”
The Department of Justice did not appeal last week’s ruling, but Bondi said government lawyers “will seek further review of this decision, and we are confident it will be reversed.”
“Alina intends to return” to office, in that case, according to Bondi.
Habba’s exit marks the latest blow to the Trump administration’s attempt to keep a fleet of loyalists in top prosecuting roles across the country as his Justice Department faces intense legal scrutiny over its attempts to get around legal limits on how long they can stay there.
Judges have reached similar decisions in cases challenging the appointments of Trump-backed U.S. attorneys in Los Angeles, Nevada and Virginia, where the president directed Bondi to launch two politically charged cases against his longtime foes James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
A judge recently disqualified U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan in the eastern district of Virginia and dismissed the cases against Trump’s enemies, finding that “all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment” amounted to “unlawful exercises of executive power.”
After she briefly served as “counselor to the president” at the White House earlier this year, Habba was sworn in as acting U.S. attorney in her home state.
But after the end of her 120-day term in July, New Jersey’s federal trial judges named their own nominee to replace her. Hours later, Bondi not only blocked the judges’ nominee but “removed” her from the office entirely, then publicly rebuked the judges and promoted Habba — preserving her role as the state’s top prosecutor.
A group of New Jersey defendants challenged the legality of Habba’s tenure, arguing that Habba did not have the authority to bring charges against them after her 120-day term expired.
“The illegitimacy of Ms. Habba’s appointment undermines … fundamental due process rights,” attorneys wrote in court filings.
Appeals court judges blocked Habba from serving in both the “acting” role and as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney under Bondi, “because only the first assistant in place at the time the vacancy arises automatically assumes the functions and duties of the office” under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, judges wrote.
And because Habba was nominated to serve full-time as the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, the law prevents her from assuming the role of Acting U.S. Attorney, according to the judges.
Bondi’s “delegation of all the powers of a U.S. Attorney to Habba” is also prohibited, they added.
In her first few months in the role, Habba pursued a series of politically loaded investigations targeting Democratic officials, including an investigation into Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew Platkin and criminal charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and a sitting member of Congress.
Habba ultimately dropped trespassing charges against the mayor, a decision that a judge later called an “embarrassing retraction,” while Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver strenuously denies allegations that she assaulted law enforcement.
As one of Trump’s defense attorneys, Habba’s losses in New York courtrooms racked up more than half a billion dollars in judgments against him. Last year, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll more than $83 million after he was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming the former Elle magazine writer. One month later, a judge ordered him to pay more than $350 million for more than a decade of business fraud. He is appealing both decisions.
Habba herself was repeatedly reprimanded for his behavior and mistakes in court, and was the subject of a blistering federal court judgment that ordered her to pay nearly $1 million in sanctions against her and Trump.
But Habba emerged as a powerful spokesperson on Trump’s behalf, injecting campaign rhetoric into courtrooms and in television appearances. She joined Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden in the days leading up to Election Day, dancing her way to the stage as DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” blasted into the arena.
