Trump administration fights to keep ex-Trump lawyer Alina Habba as New Jersey federal prosecutor
Habba then brought assault charges against McIver, whose district includes Newark, over physical contact she made with law enforcement officials as Baraka was being arrested.
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The prosecution, which is still pending, is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption. McIver denies that anything she did amounted to assault.
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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.
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In social media posts, Habba highlighted her office's prosecution of drug traffickers, including against 30 members of a fentanyl and crack cocaine ring in Newark.
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Habba's nomination has stalled under senatorial courtesy
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Trump, a Republican, formally nominated Habba as his pick for U.S. attorney on July 1, but the state's two Democratic U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim signaled their opposition to her appointment. Under a long-standing Senate practice known as senatorial courtesy, a nomination can stall out without backing from home state senators, a phenomenon facing a handful of other Trump picks for U.S. attorney.
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Booker and Kim accused Habba of bringing politically motivated prosecutions.
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Once a partner in a small law firm near Trump's New Jersey golf course, Habba served as a senior adviser for Trump's political action committee, defended him in court in several lawsuits and acted as a spokesperson last year as he volleyed between courtrooms and the campaign trail.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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