A federal judge found that Alina Habba, who was serving as acting U.S. Attorney, was working unlawfully in New Jersey, throwing the legal system in the state into uncertainty.
“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,” wrote U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann of the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The decision came in response to a challenge regarding Habba’s position as top prosecutor in the state after the Trump administration took extraordinary steps to keep her in her position after she had first been tapped to serve as interim U.S. Attorney.
The judge found that Habba had been working in the position without legal authority since July 1 and said her actions since that point could be declared void.
Brann, who was nominated by Barack Obama, also said Habba could not participate in any prosecutions being carried out by the office.
“Because she is not currently qualified to exercise the functions and duties of the office in an acting capacity, she must be disqualified from participating in any ongoing cases,” Brann concluded in the 77-page opinion on Thursday.
Last month, a panel of federal judges declined to extend Habba’s tenure as interim U.S. Attorney beyond her 120-day term and named her number two, Desiree Grace, to the position. But Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly intervened to keep Habba in the top job and fired her successor.
Since the shake-up to keep Habba in her position through a series of legal maneuverings, there has been confusion not just in the U.S. Attorney’s office but regarding the cases that have been brought.
After the Trump administration scrambled to keep Habba in her post, two separate legal motions quickly challenged her appointment as illegal.
While the judge on Thursday found that Habba was unauthorized to work in the position, he did not throw out the charges against the defendants who challenged Habba’s authority.
He did, however, warn that anyone who prosecuted them under Habba’s “supervision or authority” would be subject to disqualification.
Brann also paused the outcome of his decision so that the U.S. can argue for Habba to keep the position on appeal.
The Daily Beast has reached out the U.S. Attorney’s office for comment.
Habba, 41, served as Trump’s personal attorney and represented him in civil cases before also serving as a spokesperson during his 2024 presidential campaign. Trump later tapped her to work for him at the White House. In March, he announced her appointment as interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.
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