Alina Haba, Trump’s former lawyer, has been disqualified as New Jersey’s attorney general

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Haba, who maneuvered the administration to keep her as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, is not qualified to serve in the position, an appeals court said Monday.

A panel of judges for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in Philadelphia upheld the lower court judge’s ruling after hearing oral arguments attended by Haba herself on October 20.

Read more: Judge dismisses cases against James Comey and Letitia James after finding prosecutor was illegally appointed

“The current administration has clearly been frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to appointing appointees. Its efforts to elevate its preferred candidate for U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Haba, to the role of Acting U.S. Attorney demonstrates the difficulties it has faced — yet the citizens of New Jersey and the dedicated staff of the U.S. Attorney’s Office deserve some clarity and stability,” the court wrote in its 32-page opinion.

“We will confirm the district court’s disqualification order,” she concluded.

The ruling comes amid efforts by the Republican administration of President Donald Trump to keep Haba as acting US Attorney for New Jersey, a powerful position charged with enforcing federal criminal and civil law. This also comes after judges questioned the government’s moves to keep Haba in office after her temporary appointment expired and without her receiving Senate confirmation.

Haba said after that hearing in a statement to X that she was fighting on behalf of other candidates to be federal prosecutors who were denied the opportunity for a Senate hearing.

Messages were left Monday seeking comment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey, Haba’s personal staff, and the Department of Justice.

He watches: Former Trump lawyer Alina Haba has been sworn in as interim US attorney for New Jersey

Haba is not the only Trump administration prosecutor whose appointment has been challenged by defense lawyers.

Last week, a federal judge dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after concluding that the hastily appointed prosecutor who brought the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed to the position of interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Ministry of Justice said it intends to appeal the rulings.

The judges on the committee were composed of two appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, Dr. Brooks Smith, and Dr. Michael Fisher, in addition to a judge appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, Luis Felipe Restrepo.

A lower court judge said in August that Haba’s appointment was made through a “new series of legal and personal moves” and that she was not lawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey.

That order said her actions since July could be overturned, but kept the order pending appeal.

The government said Haba is validly serving in that position under a federal law that allows her to serve as first assistant solicitor, a position to which she was appointed by the Trump administration.

The state of Nevada is witnessing a similar dynamic, as a federal judge ruled out the Trump administration’s choice to be the United States attorney general there.

Read more: Former Trump lawyer Alina Haba’s term as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor is ending

The Hapa case comes after several people accused of federal crimes in New Jersey challenged the legality of the Hapa state. They sought to block the charges, arguing that she did not have the authority to prosecute their cases after her 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney expired.

Haba was Trump’s lawyer in criminal and civil proceedings before he was elected to a second term. She served as a White House adviser briefly before Trump appointed her as a federal prosecutor in March.

Shortly after her appointment, she said in an interview with a right-wing influencer that she hoped to help “turn New Jersey red,” a rare overt political expression from a prosecutor.

A trespassing charge, which was eventually dropped, was then filed against Newark’s Democratic mayor, Ras Baraka, over his visit to a federal immigration detention center.

Haba later charged Democratic U.S. Rep. Lamonica McIver with assault stemming from the same incident, a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress other than corruption. McIver denied the accusations and pleaded not guilty. The case is pending.

Questions about whether Haba would continue in her role arose in July when her temporary appointment expired and it became clear that New Jersey’s two Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, would not support her appointment.

Earlier this year, as her term expired, federal judges in New Jersey exercised their authority under the law to replace Haba with a prosecutor who had been her second-in-command.

Bondi then fired the judge-appointed prosecutor and renamed Hapa to the position of acting U.S. attorney. The Justice Department said the justices acted prematurely and said Trump had the authority to appoint his preferred nominee to enforce federal laws in the state.

Brann’s ruling said that presidential appointments remain subject to term limits and power-sharing rules set forth in federal law.