Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba is disqualified as top New Jersey prosecutor, US appeals court rules [View all]
Source: AP
Updated 10:47 AM EST, December 1, 2025
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Alina Habba, whom his administration has maneuvered to keep in place as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, is disqualified from serving in the role, an appeals court said Monday. A panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in Philadelphia sided with a lower-court judge’s ruling after hearing oral arguments at which Habba was present on Oct. 20.
“It is apparent that the current administration has been frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to getting its appointees in place. Its efforts to elevate its preferred candidate for U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, to the role of Acting U.S. Attorney demonstrate the difficulties it has faced — yet the citizens of New Jersey and the loyal employees in the U.S. Attorney’s Office deserve some clarity and stability,” the court wrote in a 32-page opinion.
It concluded: “We will affirm the District Court’s disqualification order.”
The ruling comes amid the push by Trump’s Republican administration to keep Habba as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a powerful post charged with enforcing federal criminal and civil law. It also comes after the judges questioned the government’s moves to keep Habba in place after her interim appointment expired and without her getting Senate confirmation.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/alina-habba-new-jersey-prosecutor-trump-5cb7573a91ac776e3914afd584e814bf
Link to RULING (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca3.125818/gov.uscourts.ca3.125818.81.0.pdf
REFERENCES
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143424849
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143489910
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143499114
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143500069
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143500233
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143501596
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143502009
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143503381
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143503983
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143504134
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https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143505804
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143508667
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143516618
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143550713
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Article updated.
Previous article/headline -
Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba disqualified as New Jersey prosecutor, US appeals court rules
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Alina Habba, whom the administration has maneuvered to keep in place as New Jersey top federal prosecutor, is disqualified from serving in the role, an appeal court said Monday.
A panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in Philadelphia sided with a lower court judge's ruling after hearing oral arguments at which Habba herself was present on Oct. 20.
"It is apparent that the current administration has been frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to getting its appointees in place. Its efforts to elevate its preferred candidate for U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, to the role of Acting U.S. Attorney demonstrate the difficulties it has faced -- yet the citizens of New Jersey and the loyal employees in the U.S. Attorney's Office deserve some clarity and stability," the court wrote in a 32-page opinion. It concluded: "We will affirm the District Court's disqualification order."
The ruling comes amid the push by President Donald Trump's Republican administration to keep Habba as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a powerful post charged with enforcing federal criminal and civil law. It also comes after the judges questioned the government's moves to keep Habba in place after her interim appointment expired and without her getting Senate confirmation.
Original article -
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Trump administration's maneuvers to keep the president's former lawyer Alina Habba in place as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor were illegal and she is disqualified, a federal appeals court said Monday.
A panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in Philadelphia sided with a lower court judge's ruling after hearing oral arguments at which Habba herself was present on Oct. 20.
The ruling comes amid the push by President Donald Trump's Republican administration to keep Habba as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a powerful post charged with enforcing federal criminal and civil law. It also comes after the judges questioned the government's moves to keep Habba in place after her interim appointment expired and without her getting Senate confirmation.
Habba said after that hearing in a statement posted to X that she was fighting on behalf of other candidates to be federal prosecutors who have been denied a chance for a Senate hearing. Messages were left Monday seeking comment from the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey, Habba's personal staffer and the Justice Department.
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