A federal judge on Thursday blocked Alina Habba from serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, ruling that she hasn’t had legal authority to act in the role for much of the summer.
U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann’s ruling comes just weeks after a panel of judges in New Jersey selected her replacement when her temporary term as “interim U.S. attorney” ended — only to be ignored by the White House, which put her right back in place as a “special attorney.”
Brann, the chief judge of Pennsylvania’s middle district, began his 77-page order by calling out the Trump administration for bending the rules to keep her in place.