Latest news with #judicialnominee
The Independent
5 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
‘Politically motivated' Alina Habba being pushed out by NJ judges who take rare step to appoint own candidate for top prosecutor
New Jersey's federal trial judges have voted to block Donald Trump's personal attorney Alina Habba from serving as the state's top prosecutor — and named their own nominee to replace her. Habba's 120-day interim appointment as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey is coming to an end following Trump's nomination in March. She has yet to have any confirmation hearings in the Senate, and the state's two Democratic senators have effectively denied her from having one. In a rare move, the state's district court judges named Habba's first assistant Desiree Leigh Grace as her successor, according to Tuesday's standing order, which was signed by the district's chief judge Renee Marie Bumb. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused the judges of 'trying to force' her out of the job. 'Their rush reveals what this was always about: a left-wing agenda, not the rule of law,' said Blanche, another of Trump's former defense attorneys. 'When judges act like activists, they undermine confidence in our justice system. Alina is President Trump's choice to lead — and no partisan bench can override that.' Habba defended Trump last year during his blockbuster fraud trial and defamation lawsuits brought by E. Jean Carroll, all of which Trump lost. She then briefly served as 'counselor to the president' before Trump named her as U.S. attorney in her home state. She was sworn into office on March 28, which means there are just days left on her 120-day interim term. Blanche said her term expires at midnight Friday. The judges' order takes effect Tuesday, or after Habba leaves office, whichever is later. Trump nominated her for a full term on July 1, but the state's Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim derailed any chance of a confirmation hearing by issuing a withering statement kneecapping her credibility. Nominees typically need approval from home state senators, and Habba would also likely face hurdles securing votes from skeptical Republicans. In a joint statement following her nomination, the senators said she 'does not meet the standard to serve' and accused her of pursuing 'frivolous and politically motivated' prosecutions within her limited time in office. In her first two months in office, Habba brought controversial charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Rep. LaMonica McIver, both Democrats, following a scrum with federal agents at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in the state. The mayor was charged with trespassing, but Habba announced on May 19 that she was dropping the case 'for the sake of moving forward.' A judge later reprimanded Habba for her 'embarrassing retraction.' Baraka's 'hasty arrest', followed by Habba's dismissal of the charges two weeks later, 'suggests a worrying misstep by your office,' Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa said during a hearing that month. The mayor later sued Habba for malicious prosecution. McIver, meanwhile, has been accused of assaulting law enforcement, which she has strenuously denied. Criminal charges against a sitting member of Congress appeared to escalate threats from the Trump administration under an emboldened Department of Justice to target his political enemies. Trump, whose administration wields unprecedented influence over the Justice Department, could still act to preserve his pick. The president has the power to appoint Habba as a 'special attorney to the attorney general,' a move that could keep her on the job for another two years without any typical review or Senate vote on her qualifications. Federal judges had similarly tried to stop John Sarcone from continuing on as U.S. attorney in upstate New York when Trump named him as a 'special attorney to the attorney general' to keep him in place. The president also could fire Grace and install another pick, which would likely ignite yet another legal firestorm as Democratic officials and lawyers intensify their scrutiny into Trump's increasingly deferential Justice Department. Trump has already appointed several of his former defense attorneys in top roles at the agency serving under Attorney General Pam Bondi, another Trump loyalist. John Sauer, who successfully argued for Trump's 'immunity' from criminal prosecution at the Supreme Court, was appointed U.S. solicitor general, the nation's top attorney. Todd Blanche, who represented Trump in his hush-money trial and federal criminal indictments, is serving as deputy attorney general under Bondi. Trump's other criminal defense attorney Emil Bove, who worked alongside Blanche on the hush-money case, is currently a principal associate deputy attorney general. The president has nominated Bove to serve a life term as an appeals court judge for a district that spans New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Last week, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee referred his nomination to the full Senate for a vote. All Democrats on the committee walked out in protest.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
As Democrats walk out, Republicans advance judicial nomination of Emil Bove
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday morning to advance President Donald Trump's controversial judicial nominee Emil Bove amid objections from Democratic senators, who walked out of the hearing in protest before the vote. Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated to serve on U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, must now be approved by the full Senate.
Fox News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
'Dear God': Democrats storm out of vote on controversial Trump nominee
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee stormed out of an executive committee meeting Thursday moments before the panel voted to advance President Donald Trump's judicial nominee, Emil Bove, to the full Senate floor for a vote. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., urged Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa before the vote to allow them to consider the allegations against Bove made by a former Justice Department attorney, Erez Reuveni, in a whistleblower report. Booker invoked Rule 4 of the committee rules in trying to push for additional debate time, which Grassley declined to acknowledge before ordering the vote — prompting the Democrat members of the panel to abruptly exit the hearing room. Shortly before walking out, Booker took aim at Grassley. "What are you afraid of?" he erupted, after Grassley tried to speak over him and hold the vote. "Debating this [nomination], putting things on the record — Dear God," he said, "that's what we are here for." "This lacks decency, this lacks decorum, it shows that you will not hear from your colleagues," Booker said to Grassley in another attempt. "You are a decent man," he said, imploring him to allow a small window of additional time for the panel to debate before pushing through with the committee vote. "Why are you doing this?" Booker pressed again. "What are they saying to you," he said, referring to the Trump administration, "that is making you do something to violate the decorum, the decency and the respect of this committee to at least hear each other out?" President Donald Trump announced earlier this year the nomination of senior Justice Department official and his former defense attorney, Emil Bove, to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, a controversial choice that comes as the president continues to attack so-called "activist" judges for blocking his agenda. His path to confirmation in the full Senate chamber remains rocky, and comes amid mounting concerns over the allegations made in the whistleblower report. This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
CBC
6 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
More than 900 ex-U.S. Justice Dept. employees warn against Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove
More than 900 former U.S. Justice Department employees on Wednesday warned the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee against confirming President Donald Trump's nominee Emil Bove to serve as an appellate court judge, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The letter comes one day before the panel is set to vote on advancing Bove's nomination to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to the full Senate. "We are all alarmed by DOJ leadership's recent deviations from constitutional principles and institutional guardrails," the former employees wrote, adding that he had "disgraced" the department. "Emil Bove has been a leader in this assault." The letter was signed by officials who served from as far back as the Kennedy administration through the current Trump administration, and it was organized by Justice Connection, a new group launched to advocate on behalf of Justice Department workers. Bove, right, was one of Trump's defence lawyers during his felony trial in New York in 2023. (Jabin Botsford/Reuters) DOJ defends Bove Gates McGavick, a DOJ spokesperson, defended Bove in a statement on Wednesday, saying he is "a highly qualified judicial nominee who has done incredible work at the Department of Justice to help protect civil rights, dismantle foreign terrorist organizations, and make America safe again." Bove, a senior DOJ official who also part of Trump's defence team in his 2023 felony trial in New York, has come under fire for using aggressive tactics. He was involved in decisions to fire probationary prosecutors who handled cases against people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Bove also pressured prosecutors in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., to drop the criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, prompting 11 lawyers to resign in protest. Most recently, a former Justice Department attorney who was fired after admitting that the government erred by deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador filed a whistleblower complaint alleging Bove, using profane language, told DOJ attorneys they could consider defying court orders on a case involving the deportation of Venezuelan migrants. Bove has denied suggesting that department attorneys could consider defying the courts. Earlier this week, 76 former federal and state judges also sent a letter to the committee in opposition to Bove's nomination.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Hundreds of DOJ alumni warn Senate against Trump's appellate judge nominee
WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - More than 900 former U.S. Department of Justice employees on Wednesday warned the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee against confirming President Donald Trump's nominee Emil Bove to serve as an appellate court judge, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The letter, opens new tab comes one day before the panel will vote on whether to advance Bove's nomination to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to the full Senate. "We are all alarmed by DOJ leadership's recent deviations from constitutional principles and institutional guardrails," the former department employees wrote, adding that he had "disgraced" the department. "Emil Bove has been a leader in this assault." The letter was signed by officials who served from as far back as the Kennedy administration through the current Trump administration, and it was organized by Justice Connection, a new group launched to advocate on behalf of Justice Department workers. Gates McGavick, a DOJ spokesperson, defended Bove in a statement on Wednesday, saying he is "a highly qualified judicial nominee who has done incredible work at the Department of Justice to help protect civil rights, dismantle Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Make America Safe Again." Bove, a senior DOJ official, has come under fire for using aggressive tactics. He was involved in decisions to fire probationary prosecutors who handled cases against people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Bove also pressured prosecutors in Manhattan and Washington, D.C. to drop the criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, prompting 11 lawyers to resign in protest. Most recently, a former Justice Department attorney who was fired after admitting that the government erred by deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador filed a whistleblower complaint alleging Bove, using profane language, told DOJ attorneys they could consider defying court orders on a case involving the deportation of Venezuelan migrants. Bove has denied suggesting that department attorneys could consider defying the courts. Earlier this week, 76 former federal and state judges also sent a letter to the committee in opposition to Bove's nomination.
