Criminal trial put on hold after defendant challenges Alina Habba's legal authority as US attorney

[Eugene]

Earlier DU thread: Alina Habba's authority as New Jersey's top prosecutor questioned in new legal filing

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Source: ABC News

Criminal trial put on hold after defendant challenges Alina Habba's legal authority as US attorney

Trump in March named his former lawyer as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

By Peter Charalambous
July 28, 2025, 5:06 PM

President Donald Trump's effort to keep his former defense attorney in charge of the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey faces a new test after a man facing drug charges filed a motion challenging Alina Habba's authority to prosecute him.

A federal judge in New Jersey on Monday put the man's trial on hold and transferred the legal challenge to a judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania to determine if Habba has the legal authority to continue acting as the United States attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Trump named Habba, one of his former personal attorneys, as New Jersey's interim U.S. attorney in March, but after the Senate did not take up her confirmation before the end of her 120-day interim term, a panel of federal judges last Tuesday appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney Desiree Leigh Grace to the permanent U.S. attorney spot.

Just hours later, the Justice Department fired Grace, after which the White House withdrew Habba's nomination in a procedural move to allow her to continue as the acting U.S. attorney for the state.

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Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/criminal-trial-put-hold-after-defendant-challenges-alina/story?id=124148581

[Skittles]

1. that man has a smart lawyer

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Deadline: Legal Blog-How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba's fate as U.S. attorney

Last edited Tue Jul 29, 2025, 05:28 PM - Edit history (1)

A New Jersey defendant argues that Habba can’t lawfully prosecute the case because she isn’t legally the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba’s fate as U.S. attorney. How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba’s fate as U.S. attorney www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...

— ClimateAngelSOS ✡️🇺🇸☮️🌎🐝🌻🦋🇺🇦 (@climateangel.bsky.social) 2025-07-29T20:46:02.833Z

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/alina-habba-us-attorney-julien-giraud-lawsuit-rcna221696

When Julien Giraud Jr. was federally indicted on drug and gun charges last year in New Jersey, he had little reason to think his case would double as a challenge to the lawfulness of Alina Habba’s position as U.S. attorney. But that challenge is now playing out, as the defendant argues that the Trump ally isn’t lawfully serving in her position and therefore the office she purports to lead lacks the authority to prosecute him.....

So what’s Giraud’s argument? In a motion filed Sunday ahead of his trial set for next week, his lawyer Thomas Mirigliano wrote that Habba’s reappointment violated federal law because the fact that Trump submitted Habba’s nomination to the Senate prevents her from serving in an acting capacity, regardless of whether Trump subsequently withdrew her nomination or not. He argued that being prosecuted by an unauthorized U.S. attorney undermines his due process rights, so he asked U.S. District Judge Edward Kiel, the New Jersey judge handling his case, to dismiss the indictment or at least to block Habba or any prosecutor acting under her authority from prosecuting him.

The New York Times reported that federal court proceedings throughout New Jersey “were abruptly canceled on Monday because of uncertainty over” Habba’s authority, citing Giraud’s case and others. Habba is one of several lawyers who represented Trump in his personal capacity and have gone on to high-ranking Justice Department posts during his second term.

After Giraud filed his motion, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, which covers New Jersey and nearby states, tapped Pennsylvania’s chief federal trial judge for the state’s middle district, Matthew Brann, to preside over the matter. The chief circuit judge made the move under a law that says chief circuit judges “may, in the public interest, designate and assign temporarily any district judge of the circuit to hold a district court in any district within the circuit.”.....

Brann ordered a status conference with the parties to take place Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., so the direction in which the matter is headed could become clearer later Tuesday. Whatever happens at the trial court level might not be the last word on this consequential and thorny issue, so this could be just the start of drawn-out litigation.

This will be a fun case to watch.