Latest news with #JulienGiraudJr
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chaos over Alina Habba's status at the NJ attorney's office even has defendants confused
A man in New Jersey has claimed that his upcoming criminal trial would be unconstitutional, while Alina Habba is head of the U.S. Attorney's Office, saying she is 'unlawfully' in that role. An attorney for Julien Giraud Jr., who is facing trial August 4 for drug and firearm-related charges, says the case cannot move forward with Habba in charge because his client has the right to be prosecuted 'only by a duly authorized United States Attorney'. The motion is the first of its kind to challenge Habba's swift re-appointment to U.S. Attorney after her nomination fell apart. On Thursday evening, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi intervened after New Jersey's district court judges attempted to remove Habba from her temporary post in the state earlier in the week. 'Giraud Jr. has a constitutional right to be prosecuted only by a duly authorized United States Attorney. The illegitimacy of Ms. Habba's appointment undermines Giraud Jr.'s fundamental due process rights,' attorney Thomas Mirigliano, wrote in the legal memorandum filed Sunday. Mirigliano is asking the court to either withdraw the indictment against his client or prevent Habba, or any assistant U.S. attorney under her authority, from prosecuting the case. 'I got the idea over the weekend because my trial was imminent and I thought it was an important issue that needed to be litigated,' Mirigliano told POLITICO. Giraud Jr. is facing two charges, possession and intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He has pleaded not guilty to both Habba, who served as President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, was named Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in March, a position that she could only hold for 120 days without Senate confirmation. As her expiration date approached, and with no Senate confirmation hearing in sight, the state's judges took matters into their own hands on July 22 and selected First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Desiree Grace, to replace Habba. But the administration swooped in and carried out a legal maneuver that will ultimately allow Habba to remain. Bondi fired Grace while Trump rescinded Habba's nomination and instead named her Acting U.S. Attorney. Under that statute, Habba can remain in charge of the New Jersey attorney's office for at least 210 days. The Independent has asked the White House for comment. Giraud Jr's motion, initially filed with the federal judge overseeing his case in New Jersey, is being handled by a federal judge in Pennsylvania. Habba represented Trump at his New York fraud trial and New York defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll. Trump lost both cases.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Chaos over Alina Habba's status at the NJ attorney's office even has defendants confused
A man in New Jersey has claimed that his upcoming criminal trial would be unconstitutional, while Alina Habba is head of the U.S. Attorney's Office, saying she is 'unlawfully' in that role. An attorney for Julien Giraud Jr., who is facing trial August 4 for drug and firearm-related charges, says the case cannot move forward with Habba in charge because his client has the right to be prosecuted 'only by a duly authorized United States Attorney'. The motion is the first of its kind to challenge Habba's swift re-appointment to U.S. Attorney after her nomination fell apart. On Thursday evening, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi intervened after New Jersey's district court judges attempted to remove Habba from her temporary post in the state earlier in the week. 'Giraud Jr. has a constitutional right to be prosecuted only by a duly authorized United States Attorney. The illegitimacy of Ms. Habba's appointment undermines Giraud Jr.'s fundamental due process rights,' attorney Thomas Mirigliano, wrote in the legal memorandum filed Sunday. Mirigliano is asking the court to either withdraw the indictment against his client or prevent Habba, or any assistant U.S. attorney under her authority, from prosecuting the case. 'I got the idea over the weekend because my trial was imminent and I thought it was an important issue that needed to be litigated,' Mirigliano told POLITICO. Giraud Jr. is facing two charges, possession and intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He has pleaded not guilty to both Habba, who served as President Donald Trump 's personal lawyer, was named Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in March, a position that she could only hold for 120 days without Senate confirmation. As her expiration date approached, and with no Senate confirmation hearing in sight, the state's judges took matters into their own hands on July 22 and selected First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Desiree Grace, to replace Habba. But the administration swooped in and carried out a legal maneuver that will ultimately allow Habba to remain. Bondi fired Grace while Trump rescinded Habba's nomination and instead named her Acting U.S. Attorney. Under that statute, Habba can remain in charge of the New Jersey attorney's office for at least 210 days. The Independent has asked the White House for comment. Giraud Jr's motion, initially filed with the federal judge overseeing his case in New Jersey, is being handled by a federal judge in Pennsylvania. Habba represented Trump at his New York fraud trial and New York defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll. Trump lost both cases.
CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Effort to keep Alina Habba in post as acting New Jersey U.S. attorney sparks legal challenge
Washington — President Trump's attempt to keep Alina Habba, his former personal lawyer, as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor has prompted a legal challenge, as a man facing drug and gun charges has alleged that she holds the office unlawfully. A lawyer for the man, Julien Giraud Jr., asked a federal judge Sunday to toss the indictment or bar Habba or any assistants acting under her authority from exercising prosecutorial powers in the case. He argues that Habba's appointment Thursday to serve as the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey violates the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and said that a district court's decision appointing her then-deputy, Desiree Leigh Grace, to temporarily fill the role as the state's top prosecutor is legally controlling. Giraud is "facing an imminent criminal trial proceeding under questionable legal authority," under Habba, his attorney Thomas Mirigliano wrote in the motion. Mirigliano argued that Habba's reappointment after her nomination to become New Jersey's U.S. attorney is also unconstitutional. Politico first reported the request stemming from Habba's position. "By circumventing the constitutionally mandated appointment procedures, and encroaching upon judicial powers explicitly granted by statute, the executive branch has exceeded its lawful authority," he wrote, adding that allowing the prosecution of his client to proceed under the current landscape "would endorse an unconstitutional executive usurpation of judicial authority." The filing from Giraud is the latest twist in Habba's tenure as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, which came to a head last week as she neared the end of her limited term serving temporarily in the role. Federal law restricted Habba's time in the post to 120 days, unless the federal district court in the state extended her tenure or she won Senate confirmation. But New Jersey's two senators, Democrats Cory Booker and Andy Kim, opposed her nomination, making it highly unlikely it would advance through the upper chamber. Last week, judges on the district court in New Jersey invoked a rarely used authority when they declined to keep Habba in her role of interim U.S. attorney as her 120-day term was set to expire. In her place, the judges selected the No. 2 in the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office, Desiree Leigh Grace, to serve as U.S. attorney for the state until another candidate for the job was nominated by Mr. Trump and confirmed by the Senate. But after the district court's decision, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Grace, a career prosecutor in the office. Grace said she intended to still serve in the role, sparking confusion over who was leading the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Garden State. The White House then pulled Habba's nomination to serve as the top prosecutor, a Justice Department official said, as part of a multi-part scheme to keep her temporarily in charge of the office. Following the withdrawal and firing, Habba was appointed first assistant U.S. attorney, Grace's job before her removal, which cleared the way for her to temporarily fill the spot of U.S. attorney in New Jersey under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. The vacancies law limits Habba's time in the position to 210 days from when the vacancy occurred. Because New Jersey federal judges have a conflict of interest in the Giraud's case due to the order to remove Habba and appoint Grace, Mirigliano's motion has been assigned to Pennsylvania Judge Matthew Brann, who was appointed to the federal district court by President Barack Obama in 2012. Grace has not indicated whether or not she would challenge Habba's control of the office and seek to enforce the judges' order authorizing her appointment. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office in New Jersey did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the motion.
