Alina Habba resigned as U.S. attorney in New Jersey on Monday after a panel of federal judges ruled last week that she was serving in the position unlawfully.
Ms. Habba will become a special counsel to Attorney General Pam Bondi, she said in a social media post. It was not immediately clear who would lead the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office.
A former personal lawyer to President Trump, Ms. Habba began leading the New Jersey office in March. In July, when her tenure was expected to end, the Justice Department kept her in place through a series of complex maneuvers that led to immediate legal challenges.
After an appeals court ruled last week that she had been serving unlawfully, the Justice Department could have appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. But Ms. Habba’s resignation enables the Justice Department to sidestep a legal challenge to her authority that could have placed precedent-setting limits on President Trump’s power to choose his own top federal prosecutors.
Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in the New York region for The Times. He is focused on political influence and its effect on the rule of law in the area’s federal and state courts.
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