Former Trump lawyer Elina Habba disqualified as New Jersey’s top prosecutor, US appeals court rules

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Elina Hubba is disqualified from serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor despite the administration’s maneuvering to keep her in the role, an appeals court said Monday.

A panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Philadelphia, upheld the lower court judge’s decision on Oct. 20 after hearing oral arguments attended by Habba.

“It is clear that the current administration has been frustrated by certain legal and political obstacles to obtaining her appointment. It demonstrates the difficulties of efforts to elevate its preferred candidate for U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, Elina Hubba, to the role of acting U.S. attorney — while still serving the employees of the United States office and the citizens of New Jersey. Some clarity and stability,” the court wrote in the 32-page opinion.

It concluded: “We will affirm the district court’s disqualification order.”

The decision comes amid pressure from Trump’s Republican administration to keep Hubba as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a powerful post that enforces federal criminal and civil law. This came even as the judges questioned the government’s move to replace Habba after his interim appointment expired and he was not approved by the Senate.

Hubba said in a statement posted on X after that hearing that she was fighting on behalf of other candidates to be federal prosecutors who were denied a chance at a Senate hearing.

The White House had no immediate comment about Habba and referred questions to the Justice Department. Messages were left Monday with the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey, Habba’s personal staff and the Justice Department seeking comment.

The decision confirmed that Habba was serving unlawfully, attorneys for the appeals said in an emailed statement.

“We will continue to challenge President Trump’s alleged illegal appointments of U.S. attorneys where appropriate,” attorneys Abe Lowell, Gerry Crovatin and Norm Eisen said in a statement.

Hubba is the only Trump administration prosecutor whose appointment has been challenged by defense lawyers.

Last week, a federal judge dismissed criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after the hastily installed prosecutor to file charges, Lindsay Halligan, was illegally appointed to the position of interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Justice Department said it intends to appeal the ruling.

The panel included Republican President George W. Bush, d. Brooks Smith and d. Michael Fisher and Democratic President Barack Obama were among the judges nominated by Louis Philippe Restrepo.

Lower Court Judge Matthew Brann said in August that Hubba’s appointment was made through “a novel series of legal and personnel maneuvers” and that he was illegally serving as the US attorney for New Jersey.

The order said Habba’s action from July could be invalidated, but the judge stayed the order pending an appeal.

The government argued that Hubba was legitimately serving in the role of first assistant attorney general under federal law, a position she was appointed to by the Trump administration.

A similar dynamic is playing out in Nevada, where a federal judge disqualified the Trump administration’s pick to become U.S. attorney.

The Habba case comes as several people charged with federal crimes in New Jersey have challenged the validity of his tenure. After his 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney expired, they sought to have the charges dismissed, arguing that he was not authorized to prosecute them.

Habba was Trump’s attorney in criminal and civil cases before being elected to a second term. He served as White House counsel before Trump named him as federal prosecutor in March.

Shortly after her appointment, she said in an interview that she hoped to help “turn New Jersey red,” a rare overtly political expression from a prosecutor.

She then accused Democratic Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Rash Baraka of being provoked by a visit to a federal immigration detention center.

Habba later served as Democratic US Rep. Lamonica McIver was charged with assault stemming from the same incident, a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress other than corruption. McIver denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. The case is pending.

As his temporary appointment expired in July, questions arose about whether Hubba would continue in the job, and it became clear that New Jersey’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, did not support his appointment.

As Hubba’s appointment expired earlier this year, federal judges in New Jersey exercised their power under the law to replace him with a career prosecutor who served as his second-in-command.

Attorney General Pam Bondi then dismissed the judge-appointed prosecutor and named Hubba as acting U.S. attorney. The Justice Department said the judges acted prematurely and that Trump has the right to appoint a candidate of his choice to enforce federal law in the states.

Brann’s decision said presidential appointments are still subject to term limits and power-sharing rules set out in federal law.