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A U.S. appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Haba illegally served as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, a ruling that could affect dozens of criminal cases in the state.
The president hand-picked Haba to serve as U.S. attorney this year, but a district court rejected her nomination, so The Trump administration appointed her A role that she could fill on a performance basis.
An appeals judge found on Monday that the strategy to bypass U.S. Senate confirmation violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
Haba is the second Trump-appointed prosecutor to be disqualified in recent weeks.
“It is clear that the current administration is frustrated by some of the legal and political obstacles to its appointment,” Judge Michael Fisher, one of the appeals judges, wrote in Monday’s ruling disqualifying Haba.
The BBC has contacted Haba’s office, the White House and the Justice Department for comment.
Haba, 41 years old, first Join Trump’s personal legal team He reportedly met him in 2021 at a golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Last year, she represented Trump in his hush-money trial in New York. Convicted on 34 counts Falsifying business records.
Before Haba served as U.S. attorney in New Jersey, Trump announced her appointment as a presidential adviser during the second administration and described Haba as “unwaveringly loyal” and a “tireless advocate for justice.”
Monday’s ruling could force the Justice Department to find a new prosecutor to oversee federal criminal cases in New Jersey.
BBC America’s partners said the appeals court ruling came after three men facing criminal charges in New Jersey argued that prosecutors’ appointments were unlawful. cbs news report.
In August, a federal judge ruled in their favor. The order has been stayed while the case is heard by the Court of Appeal.
Haba is not the first U.S. attorney appointed by Trump to face legal challenges.
A federal judge last week dismissed the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on the grounds that the U.S. Attorney in the case, Lindsay Halligan, was not legally appointed to serve as Virginia’s interim U.S. attorney.
In October, a U.S. district judge disqualified Bill Essayli from serving as acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, finding that he had served in an interim role longer than legally allowed.
But the judge allowed Essaly to continue overseeing the office as first assistant U.S. attorney — the most populous federal judicial district in the country, serving about 19 million people.
Defense attorneys have filed a motion to overturn that part of the judge’s ruling in order to remove Essaly entirely.
In September, another U.S. district judge disqualified Sigal Chattah, the chief federal prosecutor in Nevada, finding that she also was not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney.
