Judges on the U.S. District Court of New Jersey have declined to retain President Trump’s pick for the state’s top federal prosecutor, Alina Habba, as the clock on her interim status runs out.
In a terse standing order, the court tapped attorney Desiree Leigh Grace to lead the office hours before the expiration of Habba’s 120-day temporary term. The appointment is effective as of Tuesday, according to the order signed by U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb, the district’s chief judge.
Habba, who served as a personal lawyer for Trump, assumed the role in March. Her profile as a staunch defender of the president in the courtroom and the press was raised while representing him in his business fraud case and the defamation and sexual assault lawsuits brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.
Early in her interim term, her leadership came under scrutiny following the arrests and charges against Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka (D) and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) stemming from an incident at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
Although a trespass counresisting, impeding and interfering with federal officers.t against Baraka was dropped, McIver is still fighting her criminal charges in court. She has pleaded not guilty to three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officers.
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