A veteran federal prosecutor was named Monday as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, ending a dispute between the judiciary and President Donald Trump over control of the office that included disqualifying the administration’s previous nominees for the position.
A U.S. District Court judge issued a one-sentence order appointing Robert Fraser as the state’s top federal prosecutor — the result of an agreement between federal judges and the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The Department of Justice thanks the District Court for working with the Department to appoint Robert Fraser to serve as U.S. Attorney so that criminal prosecutions can resume again without challenge or undue delay on behalf of the people of New Jersey,” the department said in a statement.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann said Exclusion of three Ministry of Justice officials who were sharing power over the office, saying they were appointed in an illegal power grab by the Trump administration. They replaced Trump’s first choice for a US attorney, his former personal lawyer Alina Haba, who had been chosen by Brann She was banned from working last year Because it remained for so long without Senate confirmation.
The three officials – Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox and Ari Fontecchio – were appointed to replace Haba indefinitely, in an unusual move by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
In a court session last weekanother federal judge in New Jersey ordered the three to answer his questions under oath, and removed another state official from the proceedings out of frustration over the Justice Department’s chaotic oversight of federal prosecutions in the state.
Haba, who now serves as a senior adviser at the Department of Justice, congratulated Fraser in a social media post Monday, saying, “New Jersey deserves a top federal law enforcement official who aligns with President Trump’s agenda to make this country safe and New Jersey great!”
Fraser, who worked as a senior trial attorney in the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office, did not immediately respond to an email on Monday.
There is a disagreement between the judiciary and the Trump administration over the process of selecting US attorneys, who usually must submit to Senate approval to remain in their positions.
The judges ruled, in separate cases, that the people appointed to top federal prosecutors in Nevada, Los Angeles and upstate New York were all operating illegally.
lindsay halligan, Who pursued the accusations v. a A pair of Trump opponentsleft her position as acting U.S. attorney in Virginia after A The judge concluded in November that her appointment was illegal. The judge also ruled that The indictments I filed New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey should be fired.
In some cases, judges have exercised their authority under the law to appoint U.S. attorneys to oversee prosecutors’ offices until one of the president’s picks is confirmed by the Senate. The Justice Department responded by immediately expelling these judicial appointees.
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Associated Press writer Alana Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.