Trump's former lawyer Alina Habba faces uncertain future as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor
Habba, 41, could stay on in the role if federal judges in New Jersey keep her on. Her tenure has included the high-profile prosecution of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, which was eventually dropped, and the ongoing assault case against Rep. LaMonica McIver. Both cases, against Democrats, stemmed from a visit to a privately operated immigration detention center in the state's largest city.
Messages seeking comment were left with Habba's office and the Justice Department as well as the chief federal judge in the state, whose office said it had no information on Tuesday. FILE - Alina Habba speaks after being sworn in as interim US Attorney General for New Jersey, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on March 28, 2025. (Pool File via AP)
Senatorial courtesy
Trump, a Republican, nominated Habba for the position pending Senate confirmation, but the state's two Democratic U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim signaled their opposition to her appointment. Under a longstanding Senate practice known as senatorial courtesy, a nominee's appointment can stall out without backing from home state senators, a phenomenon facing a handful of other Trump picks for U.S. attorney.
Booker and Kim had questioned whether Habba met the standard to serve as the state's top federal prosecutor and have accused her of bringing politically motivated prosecutions.
Tenure as top prosecutor
Among Habba's highest-profile prosecutions stemmed from a May visit by three Democratic members of Congress and Baraka to the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark. Baraka was arrested on a trespass charge stemming from his attempt to join a congressional visit of the facility. Baraka denied any wrongdoing, and Habba eventually dropped that charge.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa rebuked Habba's office after moving to dismiss the charges, writing that the move amounted to a 'worrisome misstep' and calling the arrest hasty. Baraka is suing Habba in her official capacity over what he says was a 'malicious prosecution.'
Habba later brought assault charges against McIver, a freshman representative from the city who first was elected in a special election last year, over physical contact she made with law enforcement officials as Baraka was being arrested.
The indictment of McIver was the latest development in a legal-political drama that has seen the Trump administration take Democratic officials from New Jersey's largest city to court amid the president's ongoing immigration crackdown and Democrats' efforts to respond. The prosecution is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption.
A nearly two-minute video clip released by the Department of Homeland Security shows McIver at the facility inside a chain-link fence just before Baraka's arrest on the other side of the barrier, where other people were protesting. McIver and uniformed officials go through the gate, and she joins others shouting that they should circle the mayor.
The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. Her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word 'Police.'
Besides the prosecution of McIver, Habba had announced she launched an investigation into New Jersey's Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, and attorney general, Matt Platkin, over the state's directive barring local law enforcement from cooperating with federal agents conducting immigration enforcement.
In social media posts, Habba has highlighted her office's prosecution of drug traffickers, including against 30 members of a fentanyl and crack cocaine ring in Newark.
Habba's background
A partner in a small New Jersey law firm near Trump's Bedminster golf course, Habba served as a senior adviser for Trump's political action committee, defended him in court in several civil lawsuits and acted as a spokesperson last year as he volleyed between courtrooms and the campaign trail.
U.S. attorneys often have experience as prosecutors, including at the state or local level. Many, including the acting U.S. attorneys in Brooklyn and Manhattan, have worked in the offices they now lead.
Habba has said she wanted to pursue the president's agenda of 'putting America first.'
Habba was one of Trump's most visible defense attorneys, appearing on cable TV news as his 'legal spokesperson.' She represented Trump in 2024 in the defamation case involving E. Jean Carroll.
But Habba has had limited federal court experience, practicing mainly in state-level courts. During the Carroll trial, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan chided Habba for botching procedure, misstating the law, asking about off-limits topics and objecting after he ruled.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
15 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
What to know about the fatal attack of a married couple at Devil's Den park in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Authorities have released a photo and a composite sketch of a person they are trying to question as they investigate the fatal attack of a married couple in front of their children at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. The search for the man who killed the hikers at a state park in northwest Arkansas entered its fifth day, while many details about the attack remain unclear. Here are some things to know: Couple found dead on a walking trail Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were found dead Saturday on a walking trail at Devil's Den. Their daughters, who are 7 and 9, were not hurt and are being cared for by family members, authorities have said. Police have released a composite sketch and photo of a person of interest they are searching for in the attack. Along with the drawing, state police released a statement saying the suspect 'likely sustained an injury while attacking the couple.' It did not go into further detail. The State Police has said it has received numerous calls. But the agency has released few details, including how the couple was killed and whether it believes the killer is still in the area. The FBI has said its Little Rock field office is assisting in the investigation. Police released composite sketch of person of interest Police have not identified the killer or given a possible motive for the attack. But they have provided a description, the composite sketch and the photo of a person of interest. The photo was provided by a witness who was at Devil's Den State Park Saturday, police said. The photo was taken from behind and does not show the person of interest's face. Officials described him as a white male wearing a long-sleeved shirt with sleeves rolled up, dark pants, a dark ball cap and sunglasses. He was carrying a black backpack and wore fingerless gloves. He was seen driving toward a park exit in a black, four-door sedan with a license plate partly covered by tape. The car, possibly a Mazda, may have been traveling on nearby State Highway 170 or State Highway 220. Victims had moved from South Dakota Clinton and Cristen Brink had just moved from South Dakota to the small city of Prairie Grove in northwest Arkansas. Their water had been connected less than two weeks ago, Mayor David Faulk said. Clinton Brink had been scheduled to start a job as a milk delivery driver Monday in the nearby Fayetteville area, according to Hiland Dairy, his employer. Cristen Brink had been licensed as a nurse in Montana and South Dakota before moving to Arkansas. The Brink family said the couple died 'heroes protecting their little girls.' Park known for hiking trails Devil's Den is a 2,500-acre state park near West Fork, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, the state capital. Devil's Den is known for its hiking trails and rock formations, and it is a short drive from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and Walmart's Bentonville headquarters. It was selected as a state park site in the 1930s. The park's trails, which lead to the surrounding Ozark National Forest, remained closed Wednesday. Authorities have asked the public to report tips and urged trail-goers who were at Devil's Den on Saturday to look through their photos and videos for possible images of the suspect. Police have also asked local residents to review any security or game camera footage for unusual activity or images matching the vehicle.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Biden aide denounces GOP probe as baseless and denies any cover-up
WASHINGTON (AP) — A longtime close aide to President Joe Biden on Wednesday denounced Republican investigations into the former president as 'baseless' in testimony to lawmakers and defended Biden as capable of carrying out his presidential duties 'at all times.' Steve Ricchetti, a senior advisor to Biden during his presidency, wrote in his opening statement to the House Oversight Committee that he was willing to answer lawmakers' questions about Biden's mental state while in office despite Republicans' effort to 'intimidate officials who served in the previous administration.' 'I believe it is important to forcefully rebut this false narrative about the Biden presidency and our role in it,' Ricchetti said. 'There was no nefarious conspiracy of any kind among the president's senior staff, and there was certainly no conspiracy to hide the president's mental condition from the American people,' wrote Ricchetti, who has served as an aide to Biden since 2012. He said Biden was 'fully capable' of carrying out his duties throughout his term. Ricchetti's testimony comes after weeks of appearances from former Biden aides as House Republicans seek to build their investigation, which is central to their oversight agenda as they seek to turn the spotlight back to the last administration. Some former staffers, including Biden's physician, Kevin O'Connor, and Anthony Bernal, a top aide to former first lady Jill Biden, invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and declined to answer questions from the committee. Others, including former White House chief of staff Ron Klain and Neera Tanden, former director of the Domestic Policy Council, have answered the committee's questions at length. The committee will hear from seven more senior Biden staffers in the coming weeks. The Trump White House has launched its own inquiry into Biden. In June, Trump issued an executive order that argued there were 'clear indications' that Biden 'lacked the capacity to exercise his presidential authority' and ordered an investigation into 'whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden's mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the president.' Ricchetti argued the Republican-led inquiries were 'an obvious attempt to deflect from the chaos of this administration's first six months.' He contrasted it with what he said were Biden's accomplishment on issues like infrastructure, inflation, climate policy and the coronavirus response. 'I firmly believe that at all times during my four years in the White House, President Biden was fulfilling his constitutional duties. Did he stumble? Occasionally. Make mistakes? Get up on the wrong side of the bed? He did — we all did. But I always believed — every day — that he had the capability, character, and judgment to be president of the United States,' Ricchetti said. At the heart of the Republican probe is a legal dispute over the Biden White House's use of the autopen, a device used in all presidential administrations to issue the president's signature for laws and executive orders. Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration allege, without evidence, that Biden was not in a cogent state of mind for much of his presidency and that many policies enacted during his time in office may consequently be illegal. Biden has called Trump and House Republicans 'liars' for the claim and said he 'made every single one' of the decisions in office that involved an autopen. Biden's aides are now echoing that sentiment directly to the committee. Republicans are still eager to highlight Biden's various gaffes as a political cudgel against Democrats. Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, have largely dismissed House Republicans' probe as a distraction from the Trump administration's agenda. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat who sits on the House Oversight Committee, said Republicans in the probe 'look like losers' after she exited the deposition for Anthony Bernal, the former chief of staff to Jill Biden.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Colorado Springs agrees to settle Taser death for $3.2 million
DENVER (AP) — The city of Colorado Springs has agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle a lawsuit in the death of a man who was repeatedly hit by a Taser while resisting being handcuffed in 2018. City councilors met in closed session to discuss a settlement in the lawsuit over the death of Jeffrey Melvin on Tuesday and voted 6-2 to approve it during a brief public portion of their meeting. Deputy City Council Administrator Michael Montgomery confirmed the amount of the settlement, which was announced by lawyers for Melvin's family. Melvin's death was part of a 2024 Associated Press investigation that looked at cases over a decade where hundreds of people died even though police had used force that was only meant to stop them, not kill them. Most violations involved pinning people face down in ways that could restrict their breathing or stunning them repeatedly with Tasers. One of two Colorado Springs officers who fired their Tasers at Melvin a combined eight times testified in the lawsuit that he was not trained about the danger of shocking someone more than three times. The deputy chief of the Colorado Springs Police Department at the time testified that its policy allowed officers to keep delivering electricity until the person's behavior changed. The department determined the officers did nothing wrong. The settlement came as the lawsuit was about to go to a trial next month. In a statement, the police department said the decision to settle was made by the city's insurance provider and was not an admission that its training standards were inadequate or that it had failed to properly train its officers. 'While CSPD respects the contractual authority of our insurance carrier to force a settlement in this case, which they did, we do not agree with that decision and were prepared to proceed with a trial,' it said.
