PHILADELPHIA — PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court is scheduled Monday to hear arguments on whether President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Alina Haba, has been illegally serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor since earlier this year.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled a hearing in Philadelphia on Haba’s appointment, which a lower court judge said in August was made through “a new series of legal and personal moves” and that she was not lawfully serving as U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
The judge’s order said her actions since July could be considered invalid, but he suspended his order until the US Department of Justice could appeal.
The government said in court briefs before Monday’s hearing that Haba is validly serving in that position under a federal law that allows her to serve as first assistant solicitor, a position appointed by the Trump administration.
A A similar dynamic is at play In Nevada, where a federal judge ruled out the administration’s selection as a US attorney there.
In the Hapa case, US District Judge Matthew Brann’s decision came 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 that she hoped to help “turn New Jersey red,” a rare overt political expression from a prosecutor, and said she planned to investigate the state’s Democratic governor and attorney general.
A trespassing charge was then filed, which was eventually dropped, against Newark 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.
As her term expired, federal judges in New Jersey exercised their authority under the law to replace Hapa with a prosecutor who was her second-in-command.
U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi subsequently 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.